International Olympic Committee supports lifting ban on Belarusian athletes in international sports

In a political shift Thursday, the International Olympic Committee said athletes from Belarus should once again compete with their full national identity and not be vetted for neutral status, even as the war in Ukraine continues.

Though the non-binding advice to sports governing bodies does not yet apply also to Russia, it seemed to point toward being closer to ending Russia's isolation in Olympic circles during its war on Ukraine as the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games approaches.

Athletes from Russia and its military ally Belarus had to be approved as neutrals who did not support the war for individual events at the 2024 Paris Olympics and February's Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The countries were barred from all team sports at the Olympics.

"The IOC reaffirms that athletes' participation in international competition should not be limited by the actions of their governments, including involvement in a war or conflict," the Olympic body said from Geneva.

The IOC noted the qualification period "starts this summer" for Los Angeles, where more than 200 national Olympic teams are set to compete for more than 350 medal events on the program.

The updated Olympic position more than four years into the war on Ukraine also comes after repeated calls from critics of Israel for sporting sanctions to be applied because of the conflict in Gaza.

The IOC, under president Kirsty Coventry and her predecessor Thomas Bach, resisted those requests, and on Thursday cited its task to "navigate the ever-increasing complex realities and consequences of the current geopolitical context."

One barrier to Russian athletes' full return is an ongoing World Anti-Doping Agency investigation into recent reports, including by the New York Times,