The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Tuesday that it would lift restrictions on Russian athletes to allow them to compete in team events and in qualifying competitions.
It all comes ahead of qualifying events for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and just two months after the IOC lifted restrictions for Russia’s ally Belarus, whose athletes would be allowed to compete again without any restrictions and with their national symbols.
Russia’s has been shut out of international sporting competitions since it launched an invasion in Ukraine that began the war in 2022.
The IOC suspended Russia’s Olympic Committee in 2023, after Russia unilaterally recognized regional sports organizations in the four Ukrainian territories that Russia illegally annexed in 2022.
Russian athletes were still able to compete as neutral athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics and at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, but only if they are proven to not support the war and have no affiliation with Russia’s military or security forces.
IOC chief: Athletes ‘should not pay the price’ of war
In a statement, the IOC said that a thorough analysis by its Legal Affairs Commission had found that the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) no longer included any regional sports organizations in territories falling under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine as its members.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry told reporters that the IOC opposes “any kind of violence and war and will continue to support Ukraine,” but she also said that it wasn’t right that athletes “should pay the price for this.”
Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev welcomed the IOC’s decision, saying it should clear the way for Russian athletes to make a full return to the international sporting stage.
“Our country’s return to the Olympic family is a green light for international federations to reinstate all our athletes,” Degtyarev said.
No flag or anthem for now
The IOC said, however, that Russians will still go through strict anti-doping procedures in order to “address the lack of confidence in the global sporting community relating to the return of Russian athletes to international competition.”
The IOC also said it would not organize IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.
The ban on the Russian national anthem being played and the flag being displayed has also been kept in place for now.
“We made it clear that all athletes had the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games. This is what this decision speaks to. It allows Russian athletes to take part in sports competitions. We thought it was really important for athletes to have that possibility,” Coventry told a press conference.
“It was very clear when we strengthened our neutrality bylaw that selection would not be based only on sports performance, but also ability to serve as role models,” she added.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
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