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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked international sports federations to end the three-year process of vetting Russian athletes for neutral status ahead of qualification events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.The decision follows the IOC’s recommendation two months ago that athletes from Russia and Belarus should once again be allowed to compete under their national identities. Belarus has been a military ally of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.\u201cThe IOC stands in solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine, which the Olympic movement has supported since the beginning of the war, and will continue to do so,\u201d the IOC said in a statement after its executive board meeting.The IOC also relaxed the conditions for Russian athletes and teams to compete at IOC events and provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, which had been in place since October 2023.The suspension was originally imposed after the Russian Olympic Committee included regional sports councils from occupied areas of Ukraine. The IOC said those conditions no longer applied.“The decision \u200cwas \u2060taken following a thorough analysis by the IOC\u2019s Legal Affairs Commission, considering that the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) no longer includes as its members any regional sports organisations in territories falling under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine,” the IOC \u2060said in a statement.Only 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed as approved neutral athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where they won a combined five medals. By comparison, Russia had more than 300 athletes at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, winning 71 medals.The IOC has not yet decided whether Russian athletes and teams will be allowed to compete under the Russian flag and national anthem.That decision will come \u201cat an appropriate time,\u201d the IOC said.The next Olympic event on the calendar is the 2026 Youth Summer Games in Dakar, Senegal, which begin on October 31.The IOC also said Russian athletes must undergo multiple doping tests and be part of a recognised anti-doping testing programme before returning to international competition.The measures are needed to \u201caddress the lack of confidence in the global sporting community relating to the return of Russian athletes to international competition,\u201d the IOC said.The Olympic body also confirmed it will continue to \u201cnot organize IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.\u201d<\/div>\n