A Russian team marching into the Los Angeles Olympics under its own flag is a scenario the IOC has moved closer to without approving.

On 7 July 2026, the executive board provisionally lifted the Russian Olympic Committee’s suspension and scrapped the three-year vetting system that had restricted Russian athletes to competing as “neutrals.” The suspension had been in place since 12 October 2023, imposed after the ROC incorporated regional sports councils from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

The flag and anthem were specifically held back. The IOC said it would take a decision on the display of the Russian flag, anthem and colors “at the appropriate time”.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry framed the move as separating athletes from the Kremlin.

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“We made it clear that we wanted to ensure all athletes have the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games and not be held responsible for their government’s actions,” she said, according to France 24.

Returning Russian athletes must still face doping controls, and Russian government and state officials remain barred from Olympic events. Russia is also ineligible to host.

Ukraine calls it premature and unfounded

Ukraine’s Olympic Committee rejected the ruling in a statement reported by France 24.

“We consider this decision premature, unfounded, and adopted without regard to the objective circumstances that remain unchanged: the Russian Federation continues its full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine.”

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UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she was “utterly appalled” by the IOC’s decision, according to Sky Sports.

Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev welcomed the ruling in blunt terms, telling Sky Sports that his country’s return to the Olympic family was “a green light for international federations” to follow the IOC’s lead.

Track and field still locked out

The IOC’s political green light does not reach every sport. World Athletics has kept its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes in place since March 2022, imposed shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. President Sebastian Coe has repeatedly declined to open a conditional pathway back.

The Russian Athletics Federation has taken the dispute to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where its appeal against the World Athletics suspension is pending.

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