An Olympic summit in Lausanne has recommended the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes under their own flag for international youth competitions. Anthems and team clothing from the two countries should also be allowed again. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced this after the 14th Olympic Summit. Unrestricted access should apply to individual and team sports.
The principles should apply at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar (October 31 to November 13), and the IOC recommends that all international sports associations and sports organizers take a corresponding approach. However, all athletes and accompanying persons would have to “Continue to support the mission of the Olympic Movement to promote unity and peace”. In the event of a violation, exclusion could result from the international or national association, the national Olympic Committee and international sports organizers.
International sporting events in Russia should still not be organized or supported by the associations, but this recommendation no longer applies to Belarus, the statement said. The background to the decision is that the summit recognizes “that athletes, especially young athletes, should not be held responsible for the actions of their governments – sport is their beacon of hope and a way to show that all athletes can respect the same rules and each other”.
Olympic participation possible under a neutral flag
The IOC fundamentally refuses to allow Russia and Belarus to return to the big stage as sporting nations because of the ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. However, participation in the Olympics at the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (February 6th to 22nd, 2026) is possible for individual athletes under a neutral flag, as was the case at the Summer Games in Paris in 2024.
At the beginning of the month, the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Russian and Belarusian athletes could take part in qualifying competitions organized by the World Ski and Snowboard Association FIS for the 2026 Games under neutral status (AIN). Afterwards, the FIS approved the first athletes. As the Russian news agency Ria Novosti reports, Russia’s biathlon association RBU has now also filed a corresponding lawsuit with the CAS.