GANGNEUNG, South Korea — After a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over Germany on Sunday to claim Olympic gold, Olympic Athletes from Russia defied a ban by singing the Russian national anthem during the medal ceremony.

The Russians, competing as neutral athletes at Pyeongchang as punishment for a years-long Russian doping scandal, came back from one goal down on a goal by Nikita Gusev with less than a minute left in regulation time to force overtime in one of the most pulsating finals in the history of Olympic hockey.

At their medal ceremony, the players sang the Russian anthem over the sound of the Olympic anthem at the Gangneung Hockey Centre despite being barred from having their flag raised or anthem played.

“Everyone knows we are not athletes of Russia — we are Russians,” assistant captain Ilya Kovalchuk told Russian TV.

The game was played hours after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided not to restore their delegation’s Olympic status, which would have enabled them to march under their flag at the closing ceremony later on Sunday.

Kovalchuk said the players had discussed beforehand whether to sing the anthem if they were to win, and they agreed they would.

“We knew that we will do it if we win,” said Kovalchuk, the all-time leading Russian goal-scorer in Olympic play.

Singing the Russian anthem on the field of play is a violation of the IOC’s rules on neutrality, which were imposed on Russia as part of sanctions punishing the nation over systematic doping across many sports.

The victory marked the first time a team from Russia has won the gold medal in hockey since 1992, when the so-called Unified Team representing Russia and five other former Soviet republics beat Canada for the Olympic championship.

“It means a lot. We didn’t win Olympics since ’92,” Kovalchuk said. “It was a while ago. That was our dream. That was my dream for when I was 5 years old, when I started playing. It’s great and it feels good.”

–With Reuters