IOC ‘Lifts’ Russia Olympic Ban

Russia’s Olympic membership has been “fully restored” following its suspension from Pyeongchang 2018, the country’s Olympic Committee (ROC) says.

Russia was banned from February’s Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over state-sponsored doping.

Before Sunday’s closing ceremony in South Korea, the IOC had said the ban would be lifted, so long as there were no more anti-doping violations.

ROC president Alexander Zhukov welcomed the IOC’s “important” decision.

“The Russian Olympic Committee has had its rights fully restored,” he said on state TV on Wednesday.

The IOC is yet to officially announce the news.

A team of 168 Russians competed as part of a neutral ‘Olympic athlete from Russia’ (OAR) team at the Winter Olympics, but two failed drugs tests.

They had all been required to prove they were clean before the Games.

The OAR team was the third largest at the Games and won 17 medals, including two golds.

When the IOC announced Russia’s ban in December, president Thomas Bach said the country’s doping at the Sochi 2014 Games – which it hosted – “was an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport”.

 

 

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This story was originally reported by the BBC