International Olympic officials on Tuesday delayed a final decision on whether to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate at the Paris Summer Games next year, pushing uncertainty about their eligibility into a crucial period of Olympic qualifiers and doing little to ease the objections of dozens of governing bodies that want the countries to remain sporting outcasts while they wage war in Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee did, however, create a path through which athletes from Russia and Belarus could attempt to qualify for next year’s Games. That came in a suite of recommendations issued to its member sports federations that will allow individuals from the two countries to participate in international events as neutrals, potentially earning places at the Games even as their countries remain barred.