Russian athletes will not be able to represent their country at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics (WOI) even if a peace agreement is reached with Ukraine, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry said in an interview with an Italian newspaper, Reuters reports.
At this stage, nothing would change the Committee's decision, according to which Russian athletes can only be allowed to participate in the February Games as individuals acting on their own behalf, Coventry said in an interview with Corriere della Sera, published today.
The IOC banned Russia and Belarus from participating after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the Committee decided in September that Russians and Belarusians competing in Milan and Cortina would compete as individual athletes, without a national flag and anthem.
In other statements, Coventry - the first woman to head the IOC - said that hosting the Olympic Games in multiple cities, as Italy is doing, would become the "new normal", and that the Milan-Cortina Games would provide useful guidance for the future.
The IOC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for confirmation of Coventry's statements.
The Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics are held from February 6th to 22nd.
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