The IOC this week advised Olympic sports bodies to drop the three-year screening process that required Russian athletes to qualify as neutral competitors. The directive effectively dismantles IOC Russian neutrality protocols that have governed competition entry since 2023, just as qualification windows open for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
IOC Shift Impacts LA28 Russian Athlete Ban
Under the previous framework, only 32 Russians and Belarusians earned approval for the 2024 Paris Games. They combined for five medals. For comparison, at the 2021 Tokyo Games, Russia fielded more than 300 athletes and earned 71 podium spots.
The updated policy also provisionally reinstates the Russian Olympic Committee, which was suspended after it absorbed sports councils from occupied Ukrainian territories. But the IOC stopped short of fully reversing the LA28 Russian athlete ban, withholding approval of Russia's flag and anthem during the Olympic games, for now.
IOC Faces International Pushback Ahead of 2028 Olympics
Ukraine's National Olympic Committee responded swiftly, calling the ruling "premature" and "unjustified" while the invasion continues. Meanwhile, World Athletics reaffirmed its own blanket exclusion of Russian and Belarusian competitors from all track and field events.
Athletes who do return must undergo repeated doping controls and cannot have publicly supported the war in Ukraine on social media.
