The Winter and Summer Olympics are great athletic traditions that people all over the world celebrate as a chance to perform and show their national pride. With the hopes of the nation on their shoulders, however, some Olympic teams are pushed to use any method possible to achieve that lucrative gold medal – even if it means turning to cheating and illegal drugs.

One nation in particular that has a shady history of cheating in the Olympic games also happens to be one of the largest competing countries involved: Russia.

Back in 2014, when the Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia, the International Olympic Committee (IOC for short) determined that Russia had organized a state-sponsored doping program to give its athletes more of an edge in competition. With the help of the World Anti-Doping Agency, more information surfaced and confirmed that over one thousand Russian athletes had been involved in the illegal doping scandal. Because of this, Russia was promptly banned from entering the winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Although they were prevented from competing under their national flag, Russian athletes still found their way into this year’s Winter Olympics by entering as independent participants and “athletes from Russia.” To the surprise of pretty much no one in the international community, these “athletes from Russia” once again betrayed the world’s trust as at least two were caught in another instance of doping.

Despite this infraction, Russia will still be allowed to re-enter the Olympics when the team goes to Beijing, China in 2022.

Even as this year’s games fade into the past, Quartz Hill athletes gave their opinion on how the Olympic Committee handled Russia’s punishment.

“As an athlete myself, I feel doping would give the athletes who do it an unfair advantage over those who follow the rules,” says freshmen soccer player Emma Crees. “The Olympic organization should input a ‘three strikes rule’ or something … If the athlete makes a third offense they should be cut from the Olympic team permanently.”

Another freshman athlete, Jordan Gutierrez, said, “I’m glad that Russia got punished, but … I just don’t see the point in cheating. Being an athlete is about being honorable… and competing as yourself. When people dope and cheat on something like the Olympics… it’s like they’re throwing away everything they worked for.”

At Quartz Hill at least, athletes are held to a high standard of honor. The head volleyball coach, David Gutierrez, explained, “On our team, we try to do the right thing, even if it doesn’t always mean winning. We try to do the right thing rather than the easy thing… Character is really important in our volleyball team because that’s the overarching justification for athletics, especially at the high school level … It’s to teach character. If that’s not being done, then the value of sports is greatly diminished.”

Varsity volleyball player Jordan Patton agreed: “What happened to Russia was what they deserved. When people cheat in such an important competition, it’s only natural that they have to face the consequences … Cheating is wrong, obviously. But, as an athlete, it’s also because I play to see myself succeed. Not because of drugs and other stuff, but because of the work and effort that goes into my game.”