The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked international sports federations to end the three-year process of vetting Russian athletes for neutral status ahead of qualifying 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 was a military ally of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.“The IOC remains 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,” 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 the occupied areas of Ukraine. The IOC said that these conditions no longer apply.“The decision was taken after a thorough analysis by the IOC Legal Affairs Commission, considering that the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) no longer includes as its members any regional sports organizations in territories that are under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine,” the IOC said 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. In 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.This decision comes “at an appropriate time”, the IOC said.The next Olympic event on the calendar is the 2026 Summer Youth Games in Dakar, Senegal, which begin on October 31.The IOC also said Russian athletes must undergo more doping tests and be part of a recognized anti-doping testing program before returning to international competition.The measures are needed to “address the lack of confidence in the world sports community regarding the return of Russian athletes to international competition,” the IOC said.The Olympic organization also confirmed that it will continue to “not organize IOC events in Russia, nor invite the Russian government or state officials to its events.”