World Athletics extends Russia ban “until peace agreement is reached”

On Thursday, World Athletics announced it would continue its ban on Russia and Belarus due to the war in Ukraine.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in a press release that the recommendation was to “maintain the current sanctions unless there is a significant deterioration in the situation or until a peace agreement is reached.”

The ban on Belarus was imposed in 2022 because of its role in supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian athletes have been banned from competing under their national flag since the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. The same year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) declared Russia’s anti-doping agency noncompliant, which led to the suspension of Russian track and field athletes from international competitions.

Russia won 18 medals in athletics at the London 2012 Olympics, including eight golds, four silvers and six bronzes. Due to the extensive doping violations and subsequent disqualifications, all but four medals have been stripped (three in field events and one in the marathon). The widespread doping by Russian athletes at the 2012 Olympics has been described as a “sabotage” of the Games.

Coe said the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) will continue to include Russian and Belarusian athletes in its international testing pool in anticipation of eventual peace.