Vladimir Putin lauds athletes as IOC lifts Olympic ban on Russia

The International Olympic Committee has lifted its suspension of Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin with PyeongChang figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova. Picture: AP

The International Olympic Committee has lifted its suspension of Russia after the country had been barred from the PyeongChang games over state-sponsored doping.

The news came through as Russian athletes were feted in the Kremlin, thanking President Vladimir Putin for letting them compete in PyeongChang under a neutral status.

“The rights of the Russian Olympic Committee have been fully restored,” said the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov.

Zhukov said Russia received a letter from the IOC on Wednesday which confirmed no other Olympic athletes from Russia had tested positive for doping, following two positive Russian drug tests at the Winter Games.

“All of the doping tests that were conducted on our athletes in the last days of the Olympics were negative,” Zhukov said. The IOC said in a statement that Russia’s suspension has been “automatically lifted with immediate effect”.

Russia was banned in December from taking part in the 2018 Olympics following revelations of widespread doping, although 168 athletes were deemed “clean” and were cleared to go to PyeongChang to compete under the Olympic flag.

Putin praised Russian athletes as they were honoured in a Kremlin ceremony, saying the Olympic suspension was “a page we must turn”.

“You showed your best athletic and human qualities. You showed your fighting character,” Putin told the athletes.

“Despite all the difficulties, the Games had pleasant surprises and gave us new heroes,” Putin said. “The entire team deserves our thanks.”

AFP