Russia moved closer Tuesday toward having a full team with its national flag and anthem at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted a suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and advised Olympic sports bodies to end a three-year program vetting Russian athletes for neutral status.
The IOC said the timing was because qualifying events are starting for the L.A. games, and “the need to offer equal access to these competitions to all athletes.”
The move, which also signals a return for Russia in team sports, was expected since the IOC advised two months ago that athletes from Belarus, which was Russia’s ally in the full military invasion of Ukraine in 2022, should be allowed again to compete with their full national identity.
“We don’t want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their governments,” IOC president Kirsty Coventry said at an online news conference after she chaired an executive board meeting.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist swimming for Zimbabwe, Coventry said it was a fair decision and noted: “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I had to pay the price when my country was going through things and being sanctioned.”
Barriers remain
The IOC’s guidance to reintegrate Russians in international events is not binding for the governing bodies of individual sports.
“Our country’s return to the Olympic family is a green light for international federations to restore the rights of our athletes,” Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov said Tuesday.
Track and field is not following suit.
Asked about the IOC’s decision, World Athletics referred The Associated Press to its decision last week maintaining a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes in its international events.
In soccer, FIFA and European body UEFA have continued to exclude Russia in competitions like the World Cup and Champions League, avoiding likely chaos because teams from other countries would refused to play those games.
The IOC also reiterated its “solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine” and ongoing financial support.
Russia’s return
Among top-tier Olympic sports, swimming’s governing body World Aquatics lifted its restrictions on Russian athletes in April.
The ROC was suspended in 2023 when the Russian Olympic body incorporated regional sports councils from occupied regions of eastern Ukraine. But the IOC said “the ROC confirmed that it does not, and will not, conduct any activities in these territories.”
Just 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics as approved neutrals, and combined to win five medals, with just one gold.
The Russian team in Los Angeles could now be closer to the more than 300 athletes sent to the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, that returned with 71 medals including 20 titles.
Athletes still monitored
To be approved for neutral status, Russian athletes had to show no links to state military and security agencies. They also should not have publicly supported the war in Ukraine .
The IOC will continue to monitor social media posts by Russian athletes, Coventry confirmed, citing the “role models” requirement in the Olympic Charter.
“That is strong enough leverage that we would need at any time in order to decide who would be willing and deserving to come to any Olympic Games,” she said.
IOC official James Macleod said the Olympic body gets referrals from Ukraine about problematic social media posts by Russian athletes: “Those are always taken into consideration.”
Flag, anthem to return in October?
The IOC did not yet approve letting Russian athletes and teams compete with their flag and anthem. That decision will come “at an appropriate time,” it said.
The next Olympic competition is the 2026 Youth Summer Games in Dakar, Senegal opening Oct. 31.
The IOC said to “address the lack of confidence in the global sporting community relating to the return of Russian athletes to international competition,” those athletes must give multiple doping controls and be part of a recognized testing program.
The IOC said it will continue to “not organize IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.”
