Belarus
South Africa's Luxolo Adams, left, leads the back to win the 200 meters men during the Diamond League athletics meeting at Charlety stadium in Paris, Saturday, June 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Track and field to leave multi-sport European Championships

Jun. 20, 2022 10:32 AM EDT

FILE - Flags are shown on the south side of Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., Thursday, June 18, 2020. Barring a sudden, unexpected end to the war in Ukraine, athletes from Russia and Belarus will be banned from next month's track and field world championships, which marks the largest international sports event since the end of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. (Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via AP, File)
Russians out of track worlds barring unexpected end to war

By Eddie Pells Jun. 02, 2022 09:55 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

Russian seeks to keep senior role at skating federation

By Graham Dunbar Apr. 27, 2022 01:14 PM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — A Russian official was among the candidates announced Wednesday for the International Skating Union’s elections in June, if he is allowed to stand to...

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

FILE - Nathan Chen competes in the men's free skate program during the figure skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing. Nathan Chen withdrew from the world championships on Wednesday, March 16, because of what he called a “nagging injury” that he’s been dealing with after winning at the Beijing Games. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
After Russia's ban, world figure skating medals up for grabs

By Dave Skretta Mar. 22, 2022 11:48 AM EDT

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin speak to each other during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 11, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russia, Belarus banned from multi-sport Euro Championships

Mar. 16, 2022 05:42 PM 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

FILE - IAAF President Sebastian Coe attends a press conference ahead of the Doha IAAF Diamond League in Doha, Qatar, May 2, 2019. Olympic great Sebastian Coe said Monday March 14, 2022, sports federations must remain firm to keep Russian and Belarusian athletes out of competitions following the invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
Sebastian Coe says sports must fight to keep Russia banned

By Chris Lehourites Mar. 14, 2022 12:10 PM 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

FILE - Paula Badosa, foreground, of Spain, is viewed through her trophy as she begins to hold it up after defeating Victoria Azarenka, left, of Belarus, in the singles final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, in Indian Wells, Calif. The photo was part of a series of images by photographer Mark J. Terrill which won the Thomas V. diLustro best portfolio award for 2021 given out by the Associated Press Sports Editors during their annual winter meeting. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
ITF Spain F19, Men Singles

Mar. 04, 2022 03:24 PM 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

FILE - A Russian honor guard soldier salutes as Ukraine's Oleksandra Kononova covers her gold medal with her hand after winning the women's biathlon 12.5 km. standing event during a medal ceremony at the 2014 Winter Paralympic, Saturday, March 15, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. None of the 20 athletes from the Ukrainian Paralympic team have reached Beijing with the 2022 Paralympic Games opening at the end of the week, the International Paralympics Committee said Monday. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, File)
Ukraine's 20 athletes expected to make it for Paralympics

By Stephen Wade Mar. 01, 2022 07:50 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

FILE - In this frame from video, Vladyslav Heraskevych, of Ukraine, holds a sign that reads "No War in Ukraine" after finishing a run at the men's skeleton competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (NBC via AP, File)
Ukraine athletes defend country, demand sanctions for Russia

By Eddie Pells Feb. 27, 2022 01:13 PM EST

A soldier's helmet with a bullet hole near debris of burning military trucks, in a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine's capital Saturday, and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Poland, Sweden refuse to play Russia in World Cup playoffs

Feb. 26, 2022 11:43 AM EST

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach waves during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
IOC urges sports bodies to cancel events in Russia, Belarus

By Graham Dunbar Feb. 25, 2022 09:58 AM EST

Anton Smolski of Belarus skis during the men's 20-kilometer individual race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Fillon Maillet wins individual biathlon gold at Olympics

By Martha Bellisle Feb. 08, 2022 05:26 AM EST