Earlier today, the IOC decided to lift India’s suspension from the Olympic games, allowing three Indian athletes to compete for their country.

Before the decision, cross-country skier Nadeem Iqbal, slalom skier Hamanshu Thakur, and luger Shiva Keshavan entered the games as independent athletes, marching into the opening ceremony under the Olympic banner.

“You have a lot more behind you when you go with your country’s flag,” Shiva Keshavan, who has participated in the winter games since 1998, told the Associated Press. “That enthusiasm wasn’t there that I generally feel at the opening ceremony.”

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) received the ban in December 2012, when they elected corrupt officials president Abhay Chautala and secretary-general Lalit Bhanot to the board against IOC regulations. Bhanot served a 10-month jail sentence after being found guilty of corruption during the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Chautala, on the other hand, was charged in an unrelated recruitment scam. Though both men deny these charges, their ineligibility to stand on the IOC factor into the ban reversal..

The IOC’s decision to reinstate India is monumental, as it marks the first time in history that a suspension has been lifted. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the decision came after the IOA held election on Sunday, replacing Chautala and Bhanot with Narayna Ramachandran as president and Rajeev Mehta as secretary general.

To signify the change, a special flag raising ceremony will take place in Olympic Village later today, adding India’a flag to the numerous others flying.

Image courtesy Wikimedia commons user Matt May