Olympics 2018: IOC executive: decision on Russia’s question postponed

The executive of the International Olympic Committee did not succeed in reaching a decision on the Russia issue one day before the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Speaker Mark Adams confirmed on Saturday that it will not be announced until Sunday whether the “Olympic athletes from Russia” will be allowed to march back under their national flag for the ceremony.

“There was no decision. The executive meeting is over,”Adams said on Saturday evening local time. The executive under the leadership of President Thomas Bach was informed by the “Russia Implementation Group”, which observes the Olympic athletes from Russia in Pyeongchang.

The doping cases of the Russian curler Alexander Kruschelnitzki and bobsleigh driver Nadezhda Sergeyeva make a decision per Russia questionable. The Executive Board will meet again early on Sunday morning before all IOC members meet at 9:00 a. m. in the session. It remains to be seen whether the session is still involved in the decision-making process. The closing ceremony begins at 20:00 local time (12:00 CET).

The IOC had suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in the wake of the state doping scandal at the home Winter Games in Sochi.