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IOC Lifts Belarus Ban, Russia Still Suspended Amid Doping Concerns

5/7/2026

Summary

IOC Lifts Ban

IOC recommended lifting all restrictions on Belarusian athletes, allowing them to compete under the Belarus flag.
The IOC kept the Russian Olympic Committee suspended and cited WADA concerns about Russia’s doping system.
World Athletics said sanctions on Belarusian and Russian athletes will remain until a peace process begins.
World Aquatics allowed both nations to compete under their flags at the Winter Paralympics after ending neutral status.

Summary

IOC Raises Concern

The International Olympic Committee voiced concern over a World Anti-Doping Agency probe of Veronika Loginova, Russian anti-doping official.
Thirty-two Russian and Belarusian athletes competed at Paris 2024 and earned five medals.
Belarusian trampoline gymnast Ivan Litvinovich won gold, the nation’s sole Paris title.
The Russian Olympic Committee stays suspended because it incorporated sports bodies from occupied eastern Ukraine, while it maintains constructive dialogue with the IOC as legal review proceeds.

Summary

**IOC Reviews ROC**

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) legal affairs commission is reviewing the Russian Olympic Committee and its anti-doping system.
President Kirsty Coventry said talks with the ROC are constructive but unresolved, with no timeline for Russia’s unrestricted return.
The review follows the ROC’s October 2023 suspension for recognizing Olympic councils in occupied Ukrainian regions, prompting a former Zimbabwean Olympic gold-medalist swimmer to call for the cleanest, fairest playing field.

History

Historical Context

After WADA’s 2015 report proved that Russia’s Ministry of Sport, the FSB and RUSADA ran a state-directed doping scheme, the IOC barred the Russian Olympic Committee from the 2016 Rio Games and fined the ministry. The scandal’s McLaren findings showed at least 643 positive tests were erased. Today the IOC still enforces the ROC suspension while reviewing similar cases.

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IOC Lifts Ban

IOC recommended lifting all restrictions on Belarusian athletes, allowing them to compete under the Belarus flag.
The IOC kept the Russian Olympic Committee suspended and cited WADA concerns about Russia’s doping system.
World Athletics said sanctions on Belarusian and Russian athletes will remain until a peace process begins.
World Aquatics allowed both nations to compete under their flags at the Winter Paralympics after ending neutral status.

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