The IOC president’s Russian disgrace

For a decade now, the Russian Federation has been prohibited from competing in the Olympic Games. The ban began in the wake of a massive doping scandal in 2014 and continued after President Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Last week, though, International Olympic Committee president Kristy Coventry announced that Russia will return to international competition.

This decision is nothing less than a moral outrage. Tyranny and human excellence are simply incompatible. By appeasing Putin’s Russia, Coventry and other members of the IOC have decided to prioritize profit and popularity. Bodies representing the athletes of the free world, first and foremost, the U.S. Olympic Committee, ought to take a stand against this debasement of the games.

Outrageous as the IOC’s move is, it is perhaps unsurprising, the Olympic Games are notoriously crooked, among the most corrupt events in international sports. For decades, the body has appeased the world’s authoritarians and despots, including the Chinese Communist Party. From ignoring shocking oppression and human rights abuses during Beijing’s 2008 Summer and 2022 Winter Games, to shutting down doping investigations, the IOC prioritizes making money over anything else.

Coventry, especially, has a record of folding in the face of authoritarian pressure. During this year’s Winter Olympic Games in Italy, she moved to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych. His crime was simply wearing a helmet bearing images of countrymen killed in Russia’s invasion, a touching tribute to innocent lives lost. At the time, Coventry shed crocodile tears in front of international media’s cameras, even insisting that she “agreed” with his “messaging,” but did nothing to actually support Heraskevych’s efforts to inform the world of Russia’s crimes.

A Russian flag is held above the Olympic Rings at Adler Arena Skating Center during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia on Feb. 18, 2014. Some Russian athletes will be allowed to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the IOC said Friday, Dec. 8, 2023 in a decision that removed the option of a blanket ban over the invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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Coventry’s defenses of readmitting Russia to the playing field are equally mystifying as her statements at the Winter Games. “We don’t want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their governments,” she told reporters at a press conference last week. The problem, of course, is that the IOC already provided a path for exactly that. Since the ban began, individual athletes from Russia have competed under a neutral flag after careful vetting.

Russia has made absolutely no concessions to justify relaxing sanctions. If anything, the war in Ukraine has only become more intense in recent months. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the invasion began, with the rate increasing considerably in 2026. It is one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. Missiles rain down on cities. Putin shows no signs of relenting. Even President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with his unwillingness to negotiate a peace deal.

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It ought to be perfectly clear that the Russian regime’s aggression is utterly at odds with the principles of the Olympic Games. “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind,” the IOC declares on its own website, “with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” Putin is interested neither in a peaceful society nor in human dignity of any kind, and the Russian Olympic Committee has proven equally unwilling to promote the virtues of fair play and sportsmanship essential to the Olympic vision.

Nevertheless, the IOC seems dedicated to reintegrating Russia into the world’s largest sporting event. At this point, it seems that only international pressure could force them to back down from what would be a colossal mistake. Revenue from Europe and especially the United States essentially keeps the games afloat, and leaders in both politics and sports from the free world ought to use that leverage to force Coventry and her clique to back down.

Michael Lucchese is the founder of Pipe Creek Consulting, a contributing editor to Providence, and an associate editor of Law & Liberty.