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Indian Athletes to Compete in Sochi Games -- Not India

<p>Indian athletes walked out at the opening ceremony parade not behind their country’s tricolor, but under the Olympic flag.</p>
Image: Independent Olympic Participants (IOP) enter during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics
Independent Olympic Participants, alpine skier Himanshu Thakur, right, cross-country skier Nadeem Iqbal, center, and luger Shiva Keshavan, left, enter during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics at the Fisht Olympic Stadium on Feb. 7 in Sochi. AFP - Getty Images

Three Indian athletes walked out at the Fisht Olympic Stadium’s opening ceremony parade not behind their country’s tricolor, but under the Olympic flag. For the duration of the Sochi Games, the Indians will compete in a category known as “independent athletes” -- after India was suspended from the Olympic movement in December 2012 because it failed to comply with the Olympic charter.

Earlier Friday, Shiva Keshavan of India, a 31-year-old luge athlete participating in his fifth Olympic Games, fell off his sled but managed to get back on and finish his practice run.