Vladimir Putin
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, right, speaks at the opening of the executive board meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. The IOC Executive Board is set to discuss the results of consultations regarding the status of athletes from Russia and Belarus in its meeting set to run until March 30. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)
IOC details advice to let Russia, Belarus athletes return

By Graham Dunbar And James Ellingworth Mar. 28, 2023 10:59 AM EDT

Russia offers to host new sports event with China, India

Mar. 15, 2023 08:10 AM EDT
NEW DELHI (AP) — Russia offered Wednesday to host a new multi-sports event for countries such as China and India which are members of a regional grouping known as...

FILE - Coach Eteri Tutberidze, left, talks to Kamila Valieva, center, of the Russian Olympic Committee, during a training session at the 2022 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 13, 2022, in Beijing. Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze one of the country’s highest honors. It comes nearly a year after a doping case involving one of her top skaters overshadowed the Winter Olympics. A presidential decree published lists Tutberidze among three people awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky “for ensuring the successful training of athletes who achieved high sporting accomplishments” at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in Feb. 2022. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Putin honors skating coach in Valieva Olympic case

Feb. 06, 2023 11:52 AM EST

FILE - 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. Russia and its ally Belarus have been invited to compete at the Asian Games in the next step to qualify athletes for next year’s Paris Olympics. The arrangement has been brokered by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC indicated on Wednesday that it favours allowing Russians to compete at the 2024 Olympics as neutral athletes. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Russia's path to 2024 Olympics takes shape, Ukraine objects

Jan. 26, 2023 06:08 AM EST

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, left, greets Pope Francis during an audience the Pontiff granted to the participants of the "Sports for all" meeting at the Vatican, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
IOC's Bach eyes return to sports for anti-war Russians

By Graham Dunbar Sep. 30, 2022 11:31 AM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and General Secretary of the Russian Boxing Federation, member of the Executive Committee of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Umar Kremlev attend an opening of the new International Sambo and Boxing centre at the Luzhniki Sports Complex in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Boxing body won't hold new election, damaging Olympic hopes

By Greg Beacham Sep. 25, 2022 04:47 PM EDT

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) sprays water on his face during a timeout against the Florida Panthers during the third period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series Monday, May 23, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Russians star in NHL playoffs as nation wages war in Ukraine

By Stephen Whyno May. 30, 2022 02:23 AM EDT

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, center, speaks with young athletes at the Olympics Unleashed session at the Yeronga Park Sports Centre in Brisbane, Australia, Saturday, May 7, 2022. Bach was in Brisbane on Saturday for the first time since the Queensland state capital was awarded the 2032 Olympics. (Jason O'Brien/AAP Image via AP)
Bach says Russia ban is to protect athletes, not punish them

By Graham Dunbar May. 20, 2022 09:08 AM EDT

Putin backs Russian skater Valieva as she faces doping case

Apr. 26, 2022 12:20 PM EDT
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for figure skater Kamila Valieva on Tuesday, saying she did not compete “dishonestly” after her doping case...

FILE - Evgeny Rylov of the Russian Olympic Committee poses with his gold medal for the men's 100-meter backstroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. A statement from swimming's world governing body, FINA, on Thursday, April 21, 2022, announced that Rylov has been banned from the sport for nine months for appearing at a rally in support of President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Russian swimmer Rylov banned for appearing at Putin rally

Apr. 22, 2022 03:39 PM EDT

Russia delegate Alexey Sorokin, right, gestures as speaks to journalists end of the FIFA congress at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Russian appeals against sports bans to be heard by CAS

Apr. 05, 2022 12:12 PM EDT

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France perform in the rhythm dance program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Montpellier, south of France, Friday, March 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Papadakis, Cizeron shatter rhythm dance record at worlds

By Dave Skretta Mar. 25, 2022 01:40 PM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to deliver his speech at the concert marking the eighth anniversary of the referendum on the state status of Crimea and Sevastopol and its reunification with Russia, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 18, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian Olympians face backlash after Vladimir Putin rally

Mar. 23, 2022 07:26 AM EDT

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, greets International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at an event welcoming IOC members ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympics at the Rus Hotel, Feb. 4, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. The International Olympic Committee has always been political, from the sheikhs and royals in its membership to a seat at the United Nations to pushing for peace talks between the Koreas. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago exposed its irreconcilable claims of “political neutrality.” (AP Photo/David Goldman, Pool, File)
Russia invasion upends Olympic 'neutrality' — if it existed

By Stephen Wade Mar. 15, 2022 12:07 AM EDT

Fireworks ignite during the closing ceremony at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Paralympics close to end Asia's run at center of world sport

Mar. 13, 2022 07:28 AM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the launch of a new ferry via a conference call at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 4, 2022. (Andrei Gorshkov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Column: Russian sports ban unlikely to stop Putin's war

By Paul Newberry Mar. 04, 2022 05:03 PM EST

Dmytro Pidruchnyi of Ukraine shoots during zeroing in the men's 4x7.5-kilometer relay at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Ukrainian athletes join military after Russian invasion

By James Ellingworth Mar. 02, 2022 06:47 AM EST

A journalist from Ukraine holds a photo of Yevhen Malyshev, a 19-year-old former athlete on Ukraine's junior biathlon team who, according to the International Biathlon Union, died serving the Ukranian military, as he speaks during a press conference at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Russians and Belarusians at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing will compete as "neutral athletes" because of their countries' roles in the war against Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Heart-wrenching reaction to Russian athletes in Paralympics

By Stephen Wade Mar. 02, 2022 06:34 AM EST

Members of the Russian cross-country ski national team stand outside the Radisson Blu Hotel at Fornebu, Oslo, Tuesday March 1, 2022. Norway challenged a decision by the International Ski Federation to allow Russians to keep competing, and said it would block them from upcoming rounds of the World Cup that Norway hosts this week. (Annika Byrde/NTB scanpix via AP)
Russia excluded from skating as sporting sanctions increase

Mar. 01, 2022 03:43 AM EST

FILE - International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, left, talks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Second European Games in Minsk, Belarus, June 30, 2019. In a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia after invading Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, to exclude the country's athletes and officials from international events. (Sergey Bobylev, TASS/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
Russia facing sports isolation over invasion of Ukraine

By Graham Dunbar Feb. 28, 2022 06:57 AM EST