THE Kremlin dismissed talk of an Olympic boycott today despite some of Russia’s top athletes being barred from competing at the Pyeongchang Games.

Several of the country’s top medal hopes, including six-time short-track speed skating gold medallist Viktor Ahn, were barred from next month’s games amid the country’s ongoing doping scandal, which has already forced Russia to compete under a neutral flag.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Right now it is important to avoid words like ‘boycott’.”