The International Olympic Committee no longer recommends restrictions on athletes from Russia in international sports and provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, paving the way for broad Russian participation at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“We wanted to ensure all athletes have the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games and not be held responsible for their governments’ actions, and I believe that this is what this decision speaks to,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said. “It allows for Russian athletes to take part in sport competitions, but we’ve also been very clear that we do not condone any violence and war around the world, and we will continue with that stance.”
From March 2023 until now, the IOC recommended that athletes from Russia can return to competition as neutral athletes in individual events and only if they do not actively support the war in Ukraine that began in February 2022.
Select athletes from Russia and Belarus competed as individual neutral athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics — 32 total athletes — and the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games — 20 athletes.
Russia — the country — last participated at the Olympics under its own flag at the 2016 Rio Games. Athletes from Russia competed under the Olympic Athletes from Russia or Russian Olympic Committee designation at PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 due to the country’s state-sponsored doping.
The IOC will decide at a later date its policy for the LA Games on Russia’s flag, anthem and national colors and identifications.
Russia used to have one of the largest athlete delegations at the Olympics, including more than 400 in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, with traditionally strong teams in swimming, gymnastics, track and field and wrestling.
The IOC previously lifted its recommended restrictions on athletes from Belarus in May.
With the IOC recommendations lifted, it is now up to international sports federations to decide whether to lift any remaining restrictions on athletes from Russia.
Some federations previously lifted restrictions, including World Aquatics and World Gymnastics, which announced in April and May, respectively, that Russian athletes and teams can return to full competition should they meet anti-doping requirements.
Top Russian swimmers include Kliment Kolesnikov, the 2025 World champion in the 50m backstroke, a new Olympic event, and Yevgeniya Chikunova, the world record holder in the 200m breaststroke, an event won by American Kate Douglass at the 2024 Olympics and 2025 Worlds.
Russian Angelina Melnikova is the reigning world all-around women’s gymnastics champion. Russia’s women also won the Olympic team title the last time they competed in Tokyo in 2021.
World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, has maintained a full ban on athletes from Russia since the IOC eased restrictions in 2023.
Asked for comment on the IOC’s decision Tuesday, a World Athletics spokesperson referred to last week’s World Athletics Council decision to maintain its ban.
Russian athlete selection for the LA Games “shall be based not only on their sports performance, but also on their ability to serve as role models who respect, uphold and promote a peaceful society through sport as set forth in the Olympic Charter,” according to the IOC.
Russian athletes returning to international competition must meet drug-testing requirements, including multiple tests before returning.
Also Tuesday, the IOC provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee that was in place since October 2023. The ROC had been banned because it incorporated sports bodies in four regions of Ukraine, a breach of the Olympic Charter.
The IOC said Tuesday that the ROC “no longer includes as its members any regional sports organizations 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.”
