Perhaps Vladimir Putin had always planned to confirm on Wednesday — as if anyone ever doubted it — that he would run for a fourth presidential term next year. Maybe he did so to “bury” the shattering news of Russia’s ban from the Winter Olympics in South Korea next year. Either way, the banishment from February’s Pyeongchang Games is, in international terms, a stinging humiliation. Russia is not only the first nation ever to be excluded from an Olympics for doping, but faces this punishment in the same year it is hosting the football World Cup.
或许弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)原本就一直打算在本周三确认（好像有谁怀疑过这一点似的）明年他将参选，争取第四个总统任期。或许他这样做是为了让俄罗斯被禁止参加明年在韩国举行的冬奥会的惨痛消息“淡下去”。不管怎样，从国际上看，被明年2月的平昌冬奥会(Pyeongchang Games)驱逐是一种令人难堪的羞辱。俄罗斯是第一个因服用兴奋剂问题被奥运会禁赛的国家，不仅如此，明年还正好是它举办足球世界杯(World Cup)的年份。