Russia hopes to rejoin ‘Olympic family’

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday it hoped Russia could once again become part of the Olympic community despite sanctions against Russian athletes over Moscow´s offensive in Ukraine.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended allowing athletes from Russia and Moscow´s ally Belarus to compete as individual neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. "We hope that in the end reason will prevail, that the idea of Olympism will triumph and that we will again be reintegrated into the Olympic family," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"In the end, it´s the very idea of Olympism that will suffer, and is already suffering" from the restrictions, Peskov said. "The highest sports achievements are impossible without state support," Peskov added. Russia has said Moscow will not be boycotting the 2024 Games and every Russian athlete is free to choose whether or not to compete under a neutral banner.