IOC provisionally lifts restrictions on Russian athletes in int'l competitions

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee that had been in effect since October 2023.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the organization did not want athletes to be held accountable for the actions of their governments.

Coventry said the IOC would maintain its decision not to organize international sporting events in Russia and would review protocols concerning the anthem and flag in the future.

The IOC Executive Board (EB) recommended on February 28, 2022 that international federations (IFs) ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing in events. On March 28, 2023, the IOC decided that athletes holding Russian or Belarusian passports could participate as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) in international sporting events, including the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. No flags, anthems or other national symbols were permitted at international sporting events.

On May 7, 2026, the IOC EB announced that it no longer recommended any restrictions on the participation of Belarusian athletes.

Coventry said the IOC considered it important to allow athletes to return to international competition.

The IOC reaffirmed its commitment to its "Fit for the Future" initiative, emphasizing the fundamental right of athletes to access sport and compete free from political interference or government pressure. The principle was endorsed by the EB in September 2025 and reaffirmed at the Olympic Summit in December 2025.

Coventry said the IOC was confident that it could provide a fair and safe sporting environment. She added that additional measures had been put in place to ensure Russian athletes had undergone adequate anti-doping testing before returning to international competition.

All Russian athletes returning to international competition must meet relevant anti-doping requirements, particularly those set out in the anti-doping rules of the IOC and IFs, the IOC announced.

IOC Sports Director Pierre Ducrey said the IOC had held a call with all IFs to explain the decision and that the proposals submitted to the EB had not come as a surprise to the federations.

Coventry added that international federations remained autonomous and were free to make their own decisions.

IOC provisionally lifts restrictions on Russian athletes in int'l competitions

The head of German auto giant Mercedes-Benz has stressed the automaker is looking to navigate through the current challenges facing the auto sector by investing in innovation, technology and new products, with the firm introducing a wave of new vehicle models.

Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, was speaking in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), during which he acknowledged that intense competition amid a complex environment is squeezing profit margins, particularly in key markets such as China.

Kallenius listed several external pressures facing the company which come amid the wider changes taking place across the industry, and said automakers will simply have to adapt in order to remain competitive.

"I don't think that the intense competitive situation in China is going to go away any time soon, so there will be pressure here. Of course, the tariff system, especially for a global company like Mercedes-Benz, it has changed and we have to accept that now. And there are also other regulatory challenges or other things that's going on in the world," he said.

Kallenius said that while making efforts to manage disruptions in the short-term, the Mercedes-Benz Group is investing more in innovation, technology and products.

He noted that as part of this strategy the firm is unveiling 40 new models in the three-year period up to 2027 as it looks to build momentum to overcome the present difficulties.

"I think that 2026 for us is a year of execution, actually bringing models into the pipeline [and we aim to] build upon that in 2027 and 2028. So we take for this financial picture, we take like a mid-term view," he said.

"We have a solid foundation. Yes, it is a tougher business environment than it was maybe three years ago. But we can deal with it and we want to build ourselves into a stronger position over the next years into the mid-term carried by the product offensive," Kallenius said.

Mercedes-Benz CEO says firm pinning recovery on product offensive