The Olympics Has Temporarily Lifted Its Ban On Russia Despite Its Ongoing Invasion Of Ukraine
The IOC wanted to ensure all athletes “have the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games and not be responsible for their governments’ actions.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has temporarily lifted its ban on Russia despite its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The move paves the way for Russian athletes to compete for their country again, starting with the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Russia’s team was banned from competing at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, as well as the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics due to the country sponsoring athletes’ doping that was discovered after the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
During the three games, Russian athletes who were found clean were only allowed to compete under a neutral banner with no flag or anthem.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC suspended Russia from the Games in October 2023 for breaching the Olympic Charter and Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
This is because the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) folded the sporting bodies of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — four Ukrainian regions it annexed — into itself as official members.
The ROC is the body that officially selects and sends Russian athletes to the Olympics, and in doing so, it was basically claiming to represent Ukrainian athletes and sports federations as if they were Russian.
As a result of the suspension, Russian and Belarusian athletes were only allowed to compete as "Individual Neutral Athletes" — without their country's flag, colors or anthem — at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
But on Tuesday, July 7, the IOC said the suspension no longer applies because the ROC had removed the sports bodies from the four Ukrainian regions — which Russia still partially occupies — from its official membership.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry said the IOC wanted to ensure all athletes “have the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games and not be responsible for their governments’ actions,” adding that it “does not condone any violence and war around the world.”
The IOC said it still has not decided whether Russia can display its flag, colors or play its anthem at the LA Games.
It also won’t host events in Russia or invite Russian officials to its events, and Russian athletes will have to undergo multiple doping tests by an international testing agency.
Russia’s sport minister welcomed the decision, while Ukraine's National Olympic Committee said the decision was "premature" and "unjustified" while Russia's invasion continues.
The IOC said its position on Russia’s war itself is "unchanged," and that it still "stands in solidarity" with Ukrainian athletes.
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Sofia Hou
Steph Lu
Cherry Mohamed
