BREAKING: IOC lifts doping ban on Russia

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has lifted its suspension on the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), which was imposed prior to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.


“We received a letter from the IOC, regarding the reinstatement of the ROC. As you know, the IOC Executive Board convened on February 25. In the meeting, important decisions were made with regard to the reinstatement of the ROC’s status," ROC president Alexander Zhukov told journalists Wednesday.

"This corresponded with the final doping test [of an Olympic athlete of Russia] at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics. The letter confirmed the remaining doping probe results were negative. As such, the ROC has been reinstated.”

The Olympic governing body had voted to uphold the ban on Russia, citing two positive doping tests from Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) - bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva and curler Alexander Krushelnitsky - during the Games.

The pair have since been disqualified and stripped of their results. In Krushelnitsky's case, he was forced to hand back a bronze medal.

Following its refusal to reinstate the ROC, the Olympic governing body recommended lifting the disqualification on the condition the remainder of the doping probes of Russian athletes came out clean.

The IOC also stated that Russian anti-doping rules violations (ADRV) during PyeongChang did not reflect any pattern and were committed individually.

In December, the IOC ruled to suspend the ROC and banned more than 50 Russian team members from competing at PyeongChang. In addition, some leading Russian athletes in several sports were not invited to the Games, despite never having been involved in doping.

Those who approved for the PyeongChang Games were obliged to perform under a neutral banner and without their national flag and anthem.