MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. The Executive Board of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) has allowed Russian youth pentathletes to compete in international tournaments under the national flag and to the tune of the country’s anthem, Russian Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Mikhail Degtyarev said on Tuesday.
Russian athletes were granted the right to compete at international events donning national symbols in the Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19 age categories.
"This is another indisputable positive decision in favor of Russian sports and the result of consistent work to protect the interests of Russian athletes, as well as further confirmation that the sports dialogue is gradually returning to a constructive course," Degtyarev wrote on his Telegram account.
Last year, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that international federations allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in youth competitions with national symbols in both individual and team disciplines.
In July 2023, the UIPM’s press office reported that Russian and Belarusian pentathletes would have to prove to an independent commission that they were not affiliated with law enforcement and military agencies, and also did not actively support a special military operation, in order to be issued neutral status permissions for international tournaments’ participation.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to prohibit athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.
On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.