IOC lifts Russia suspension, athletes to return to international competitions

The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday, marking a significant step towards Russia’s reintegration into the Olympic fold ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the ROC was suspended in October 2023 for recognising regional Olympic councils in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine — Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

The IOC said on Tuesday its executive board had lifted that suspension, which will see Russian athletes back in many international competitions including LA28 Olympic qualifiers, but had not yet decided whether Russia could display its flag and colours or have its anthem played at the Games.

“We don’t condone any wars, including this one. We will continue to support Ukraine like we have since this started. But I don’t believe athletes should pay the price,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry told a press conference. “We don’t want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their government.”

The decision marks the latest step by the IOC to ease Russia’s return to international sport after urging federations in December to readmit Russian and Belarusian youth athletes (under-23s).

“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 said.

Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev said the IOC’s decision 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.

Russian athletes competed as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.

‘SHAMEFUL DECISION’

But there was criticism, with Ukraine’s foreign ministry calling the decision ‘troubling’ and urging countries hosting competitions to uphold a ban on Russian state symbols.

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was disqualified from the 2026 Winter Olympics over a helmet carrying a message about Ukraine, told Reuters the IOC’s decision was “absolutely shameful”.

Athlete-led advocacy group Global Athlete and FairSport said the decision showed little accountability by the IOC amid an ongoing conflict.

“This decision represents a fundamental departure from the principles of Olympism. By welcoming Russia back into the Olympic fold despite its history of state-sponsored doping and its ongoing war against Ukraine, the IOC has chosen to rewrite, to lower, its own standards for stakeholder accountability,” they said in a joint statement.

FRAGMENTED PARTICIPATION?

The decision, however, is unlikely to trigger a full participation of Russian athletes across all sports, with many international federations still maintaining separate bans for them.

The World Athletics Council last week reaffirmed its decision to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competition, four years after it initially imposed sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.

World Athletics voted to end its eight-year doping ban of the Russian Athletics Federation in 2023 but the separate ban over the invasion of Ukraine has kept out their athletes.

Several other international federations have similar suspensions in place.

Asked whether the IOC’s decision could lead to a fragmented participation of Russian athletes ahead of the LA Olympics, Coventry said: “We don’t foresee any patchwork.”

Olympic qualifying events have already taken place for some sports with most kicking off their qualifiers later in 2026 and 2027.

The IOC had said in imposing its ban in 2023 that Russia recognising regional Olympic councils in occupied parts of Ukraine violated the Olympic Charter and the territorial integrity of Ukraine’s Olympic Committee.

On Tuesday it said: “The ROC confirmed that it does not, and will not, conduct any activities in these territories. The IOC EB will continue to closely monitor the situation relating to any ROC activities in those territories, and reserves the right to take any further measures if deemed necessary.”