The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted its suspension of theĀ Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday, marking a significant step towardsĀ Russiaās reintegration into the Olympic fold ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
FollowingĀ Russiaās invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the ROC was suspended in October 2023 for recognizing regional Olympic councils inĀ Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine ā Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
The IOC said on Tuesday its executive board had lifted that suspension, which will seeĀ Russian athletes back in many international competitions including LA28 Olympic qualifiers, but had not yet decided whetherĀ RussiaĀ could display its flag and colors or have its anthem played at the Games.
āWe donāt condone any wars, including this one. We will continue to support Ukraine like we have since this started. But I donāt believe athletes should pay the price,ā IOC President Kirsty Coventry told a press conference. āWe donāt want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their government.ā
The decision marks the latest step by the IOC to easeĀ Russiaās return to international sport after urging federations in December to readmitĀ Russian and Belarusian youth athletes (under-23s).
āWe made it clear that all athletes had the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games. This is what this decision speaks to. It allowsĀ Russian athletes to take part in sports competitions. We thought it was really important for athletes to have that possibility,ā Coventry said.
Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev said the IOCās decision should clear the way forĀ Russian athletes to make a full return to the international sporting stage.
āOur countryās return to the Olympic family is a green light for international federations to reinstate all our athletes,ā Degtyarev said.
Russian athletes competed as neutrals at the 2024 ParisĀ OlympicsĀ and at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.
āShameful decisionā
But there was criticism, with Ukraineās foreign ministry calling the decisionĀ ātroublingāĀ and urging countries hosting competitions to uphold a ban onĀ Russian state symbols.
UkrainianĀ skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who wasĀ disqualifiedĀ from the 2026 WinterĀ OlympicsĀ over a helmet carrying a message about Ukraine, told Reuters the IOCās decision was āabsolutely shamefulā.
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Athlete-led advocacy group Global Athlete and FairSport said the decision showed little accountability by the IOC amid an ongoing conflict.
āThis decision represents a fundamental departure from the principles of Olympism. By welcomingĀ RussiaĀ 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,ā they said in a joint statement.
Fragmented participation?
The decision, however, is unlikely to trigger a full participation ofĀ Russian athletes across all sports, with many international federations still maintaining separate bans for them.
The World Athletics Council last weekĀ reaffirmedĀ its decision to excludeĀ 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 theĀ 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 IOCās decision could lead to a fragmented participation ofĀ Russian athletes ahead of the LAĀ Olympics, Coventry said: āWe donāt foresee any patchwork.ā
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 thatĀ RussiaĀ recognizing regional Olympic councils in occupied parts of Ukraine violated the Olympic Charter and the territorial integrity of Ukraineās Olympic Committee.
On Tuesday it said: āThe 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.ā
In addition toĀ RussiaĀ being ostracized over its invasion of Ukraine, its athletesā return to competition comes against the backdrop of one of the most damaging doping scandals in Olympic history.
The country has been under scrutiny since a 2015 World Anti-Doping Agency-commissioned report found evidence of systematic doping inĀ Russian athletics, followed by findings that a state-sponsored cover-up operated around the 2014 Sochi WinterĀ Olympics.
The IOC said allĀ Russian athletes now returning to international competition would have to meet relevant anti-doping requirements.
RussiaĀ was barred from competing under its flag at several subsequent Games, with many athletes admitted only as neutrals, and WADA imposed a four-year ban in 2019 after Moscow was found to have manipulated laboratory data ā a sanction later cut to two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.Ā Russian officials have repeatedly denied the existence of a state-backed doping program.
āWe ask to ensure that adequate testing is done onĀ Russian athletes coming into the LA28 Games,ā Coventry said.
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