American indie band O.A.R. happy to share name with Russian athletes
Some fans of early-2000s alternative rock were likely confused to see a team called "OAR" competing at PyeongChang 2018.
The Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) forced to use the moniker due to the country's infamous doping scandal share an acronym with American rock band "Of a Revolution" - better known as O.A.R.
The band - known for such songs as "Heard the World" and "Shattered (Turn the Car Around)" - has been hearing plenty about how its namesake team has been doing in the Winter Games.
"When the games started the phone calls started coming in, the emails, the texts - now to the point where every single morning I have a funny run-in with somebody about it," lead singer and guitarist Marc Roberge told Mashable's Nicole Gallucci recently. "It's grown into this thing, but it's hilarious, it's awesome and I love it."
O.A.R. performed at the 2015 Special Olympics in Los Angeles and Roberge says the band has no problem sharing the title with the athletes, especially considering that the quintet has had success touring in Russia.
"As a group, we're huge sports fans, we've always toured the country and visited a lot of different sports teams," said Roberge. "The Olympics is a huge event. I have memories my whole life watching with my family and now I do it in the mornings with my own kids …
"I'm trying to enjoy it, and we're athletic by proxy now at this point."
- With h/t to TIME