The International Olympic Committee supports lifting the ban on Belarusian athletes from international sports
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At a political event on Thursday, the International Olympic Committee said Belarusian athletes should once again compete with their full nationality and not be tested for neutral status, as the war in Ukraine continues.
While the non-binding advice to the sport’s governing bodies has yet to apply to Russia, it appeared to point to a move closer to ending Russia’s isolation from the Olympic Games during its war with Ukraine as the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games approach.
Athletes from Russia and its military partner Belarus had to be approved as neutral non-combatants for individual events at the 2024 Paris Olympics and February’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Countries were banned from all team sports at the Olympics.
“The IOC confirms that the participation of athletes in international competitions should not be limited by the actions of their governments, including involvement in war or conflict,” said the Olympic organization from Geneva.
The IOC marked the qualifying period “beginning this summer” in Los Angeles, where more than 200 Olympic national teams are set to compete in more than 350 medal events in the program.
The revised status of the Olympics comes more than four years into the conflict in Ukraine and comes after repeated calls from critics of Israel to impose sanctions on the sport over the conflict in Gaza.
The IOC, under president Kirsty Coventry and her predecessor Thomas Bach, denied those claims, and on Thursday cited its duty to “take into account the evolving realities and consequences of the current global situation.”
The IOC is awaiting an anti-doping investigation
Another obstacle to the full return of Russian athletes is the ongoing investigation of the World Anti-Doping Agency into recent reports, including from the New York Times, involving the head of the Russian anti-doping agency Veronika Loginova.
The IOC said its executive committee noted with “concern the latest information” being looked into by WADA, without naming Loginova.
The Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended by the IOC from October 2023 by bringing together regional sports organizations in illegally occupied eastern Ukraine.
“While the ROC has held constructive discussions with the IOC regarding its suspension,” the IOC said, “it remains suspended while the IOC Legal Affairs Commission continues to review the matter.”
Coventry told reporters in an online news conference that there was no set timetable for completing the formal review.
The Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) has issued its stance against the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus at Milano Cortina 2026. Karen O’Neill, CEO of the CPC, discusses how the decision to allow participation was ultimately reached despite CPC’s opposition.
Pushback from sports bodies
Track and field’s World Athletics has pulled athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus out of its international events in the days since the war began. The IOC’s move on Thursday will not change that.
“Our council has made a clear decision that if there is a concrete movement towards peace talks, it should first review its decisions,” said the Monaco-based music group.
Sports officials in northern Europe and the Baltic states have taken strong positions against Russia and Belarus from 2022, and the Swedish sports federation on Thursday called the IOC’s advice “very unfortunate.”
Neutral athletes in the Olympics
A total of 32 neutral athletes competed in Paris, combining to win five medals including one gold in trampoline by Ivan Litvinovich of Belarus. One silver medal was won by 20 neutral athletes in Milan and Cortina.
In the previous Olympics, a Russian team of 335 athletes went to the Tokyo Summer Games held in 2021 and 209 went to the Beijing Winter Games in 2022. Belarus sent 101 and 26, respectively.
Team Belarus must now expect to earn the rights again at the 2028 Olympics — marching under the country’s flag in the opening and closing ceremonies, wearing uniforms in the country’s colors, and hearing the national anthem played by the gold medalists.
Doping case for Belarusian medalist
The IOC announced its Belarus news just hours after a positive doping test was revealed for one of the country’s four medalists at the Paris Olympics.
Yauheni Tsikhantsou, who took bronze in the men’s 102 kilogram class in Paris, has not been suspended while his case is being prosecuted by the International Testing Agency. Growth hormone was found in a sample Tsikhantsou gave in March, the ITA said on Thursday.
2030 Winter Games Update
The IOC board led by Coventry gave updates on the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps and chose the host of the 2030 Youth Olympic Games.
A further review of the Winter Games program will be confirmed in June but will not include in France any sports that can be played on ice and snow, Coventry said. There has been speculation about adding new sports or upgrading the winter schedule with indoor sports since the Summer Games.
The competition to host the youth was due to be voted on next month but was put on hold on Thursday due to the IOC’s uncertainty about its strategy, Coventry said, noting the “very different” views around the world.
The applicants are Asuncion, Paraguay; Bangkok, Thailand; and Santiago, Chile.
