Olympic Games. IOC lifts restrictions against Belarusian athletes

In a statement released on its website this Thursday, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) announced that it is lifting sanctions against Belarusian athletes. They will once again be able to compete with their flag and anthem in upcoming major events, such as the 2028 Olympic Games.

This is a new step forward taken by the IOC in terms of reintegrating athletes from Belarus. Excluded since February 2022 due to the country’s involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they have been allowed (like the Russians) to compete under a neutral flag since March 2023. As an example, with the lifting of sanctions, Aryna Sabalenka could once again march under her flag and hear her country’s anthem if she wins the Olympic gold in 2028.

Context:

• The IOC is allowing Belarusian athletes to compete with their flag and anthem in international competitions once again after being suspended for their country’s involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Fact Check:

• Aryna Sabalenka is a prominent Belarusian tennis player.

No change for Russia
However, according to the same statement, the Olympic body is maintaining the conditions imposed on Russian athletes for now. They will only be able to compete in international competitions under a neutral flag, as individuals, and if they have not actively supported the conflict.

Formally, it will be up to international federations to implement this change, as the IOC executive board has issued them successive ‘recommendations’: banning Russian and Belarusian athletes altogether in February 2022, reintegrating them under a neutral flag in March 2023, and now returning anthem and flag rights only to Belarusians.

A Belarusian team at the 2028 Olympics
But this new policy should allow for the return of a Belarusian delegation to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as well as the Winter Youth Olympics in Dolomiti Valtellina, with participation in the opening ceremony and representation on the medal table. Qualifications for both events “will begin this summer,” notes the IOC.

In the last two Olympic editions, the 2024 Paris Olympics and the recent Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, Belarusians competed alongside Russians in the category of ‘neutral individual athletes,’ devoid of their colors and in small numbers: there were 17 in Paris and 7 in Italy.

To justify the distinction made with Russian athletes, the IOC points out that the Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended since the fall of 2023 – for placing the sports organizations of four occupied Ukrainian regions under its authority – and that new concerns have recently emerged regarding the Russian anti-doping system.