IOC considers Russia's return in L.A. '28; backlash expected

Leaders of the International Olympic Committee appear ready to lift suspensions of Russia and Belarus, clearing the way for athletes from those countries to return to major international competitions perhaps as early as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

- BY KEVIN BAXTER

ANDREW MILLIGAN PA Images

UKRAINIAN skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych holds his helmet showing images of war victims.

But those plans may have hit a snag last week with the international show of support for Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was disqualified from the Milan-Cortina Games for refusing to compete without a helmet featuring images of people killed following the Russian invasion of his country.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry, in an address to the IOC Congress in Milan this month, signaled a more neutral approach toward Russia without ever mentioning the country.

“We are a sports organization. We understand politics and we know we don’t operate in a vacuum,” she said. “But our game is sport. That means keeping sport a neutral ground. A place where every athlete can compete freely, without being held back by the politics or divisions of their governments.”

In a meeting with the media, she demurred when asked when Russians would be welcomed back.

“There's no timeline,” she said.

A massive international outcry following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war that will enter its fifth year two days after the closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Games, forced most major international sports bodies to ban all Russian athletes from competition.

The IOC has allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in Italy as individual neutral athletes, which means they cannot compete on teams or wear their national team colors or flag.

The conditions that led to those suspensions haven't changed; Russia, with help from Belarus, continues to wage war against its neighbor, with a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimating the number of casualties on both sides at more than 1.8 million. That doesn’t including civilians, making it the most costly European conflict since World War II.