IOC Lifts Russia Olympic Ban
Russia has had its Olympic membership restored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) following its suspension from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was banned from the Games after a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report uncovered state-sponsored doping, with the country covering up any doping by Russian athletes ahead of Sochi 2014, amongst others.
Even though Russian athletes were banned from this year’s Winter Games, 168 athletes were permitted to compete at Pyeongchang under a neutral flag as ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia’ (OAR).
Two athletes from the country did fail doping tests during the Winter Games, however the IOC stated before the closing ceremony that the ban would be lifted as long as there were no further doping violations. The body has since announced that all remaining tests were negative.
In a statement, the IOC said: “The final notification of all remaining test results from the OAR delegation has been received from the Doping-Free Sport Unit (DFSU).
“The IOC can confirm that all the remaining results are negative. Therefore, as stated in the executive board decision of 25th February the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee is automatically lifted with immediate effect.”
OAR was the third largest team competing in the Winter Olympic Games and won 17 medals, finishing 13th in the medal table.
Russian athletes are also banned from the Winter Paralympic Games this month, but some athletes will once again compete as neutrals.
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