The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) that had been in effect since October 2023.
The decision was made by the IOC’s executive board (EB), paving the way for Russian teams to return to Olympic competition before the 2028 games in Los Angeles.
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Russia has been banned from competing at the Olympics under its own flag since 2016 because of state-sponsored doping offences and the invasion of Ukraine.
However, the ROC has now been invited back in from the cold after accepting that it no longer controlled sporting bodies in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
In a statement, the IOC said: “The decision was taken following a thorough analysis by the IOC’s Legal Affairs Commission, considering that the ROC no longer includes as its members any regional sports organisations in territories falling under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine.
“In addition, 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.”
However, the IOC’s decision does come with some caveats. All Russian athletes returning to international competition must meet relevant anti-doping requirements, while the IOC will not organise events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.
The Olympic body will also decide on the display of the Russian flag, anthem, colours, or any identifications for the Olympic Games “at the appropriate time.”
Crucially, the IOC has also made it clear that individual sports and competitions have discretion to make their own decisions regarding Russia, with many sports expected to allow Russian teams and anthems to return long before the LA games.
Last week, World Athletics also upheld its decision to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from any international competition.
Only 27 athletes from Russia competed across the 2024 Olympics in Paris and the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina after undergoing a vetting process to ensure they did not publicly support the war in Ukraine.
This has now been scrapped, with Russian athletes only having to abide by the values of the Olympic charter.
Last year, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lifted the partial suspension of Russia and Belarus, which allowed their athletes, who competed under neutral banners since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 in global athletics competitions, to utilize their own countries’ names and flags at IPC events, including the Milano-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.
Russia and Belarus were suspended due to violations of the Olympic Charter, regarding the incorporation of regional Ukrainian sports councils into their bodies after the invasion, and not for the invasion itself, hence why the suspension was lifted while the conflict is ongoing.
The IOC’s decision was welcomed by Russia’s sports minister, Mikhail Degtyarev, who believes it will lead to several sports reinstating Russian teams.
He said: “This is a clear path to ensuring that all federations of all sports reinstate Russian national teams and return them to international competitions. We’ve done extensive diplomatic work to reinstate our athletes.
“It’s also very important that the IOC has allowed international federations to hold world championships and international tournaments at their discretion. We will definitely take advantage of this.”
Meanwhile, the IOC has dropped Nordic combined skiing from the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps and added two new events – synchro9, a new figure skating team event, and freeride (ski and snowboarding).
The decision to cut Nordic combined was made after a discipline and event review by the IOC EB, which is part of a refreshment of the disciplines in the games to make them more attractive to a younger audience.
The move ends the Olympic run of a discipline that had featured in every edition since the inaugural winter games in 1924.
Explaining the decision, the IOC said: “Across most of the popularity indicators, Nordic combined ranked lowest among all Olympic Winter Games disciplines at Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022, and Milano Cortina 2026.
“At the most recent Olympic Winter Games, it was the lowest-ranked discipline in 11 of the 14 popularity indicators assessed. In addition, the discipline continues to face challenges in terms of universality and participation at the Olympic Games.”
The organization also stated that the discipline “continues to face challenges in terms of universality and participation at the Olympic Games. Only five national Olympic committees won medals in Nordic combined across the last four editions of the Olympic Winter Games.”
Alexander Ospelt, the new president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), said the governing body’s initial reaction to the development was “disappointment”.
The IOC EB first addressed the discipline's future in 2022, citing a “concerning situation” driven by television viewership that was by far the lowest of any Winter Olympic sport over a three-games cycle.
While axing Nordic combined, the IOC did confirm the retention of the snowboard parallel giant slalom discipline.
It means that Alpes 2030 will be the first gender-equal Olympic Winter Games by quota allocation with the introduction of the freeride and synchro9 disciplines.
Female athlete quota places will account for 50% of the total quota of 3,046 athletes. The programme will also achieve parity in the number of events staged, with 56 women’s and 55 men’s events, in addition to 15 mixed events.
The Alpes 2030 discipline and event programme was approved by the IOC EB following the recommendations of the Olympic Programme Working Group, which assessed the proposals submitted by the international federations and the organising committee with regard to ski mountaineering.
Overall, 26 new events were proposed by the IFs and the organising committee. The IOC EB decided to add three disciplines and 16 events, “to enhance gender equality, innovation, and youth interest.”
