Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday criticised the former leadership of the International Olympic Committee as “shameful” and “cowardly” and said he hoped for a new approach from those now in charge of the Olympic movement.
Putin made the remarks during a Kremlin ceremony honouring Russian boxers, according to Russian news agencies. He did not name individuals but appeared to be referring to policies adopted under the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach, who stepped down in 2025 and was succeeded by Zimbabwean former Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry.
Under Bach’s leadership, the IOC banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at the Olympics under their national flags following Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, part of which was launched from Belarus.
Bach’s tenure as president also included the 2014 Sochi Games’ Russian state-backed doping scandal, which led to Russian athletes participating as neutrals in several editions of the Games.
“The shameful, I would say cowardly, politically motivated behaviour of the previous leadership of the International Olympic Committee has caused enormous damage to the Olympic movement and to the very principles of Olympism,” Putin was quoted as saying in the Kremlin ceremony.
“I hope that the new leadership of the International Olympic Committee and the international sports federations will overcome this difficult and, as I said, shameful legacy of their predecessors, as soon as possible.”
The IOC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
While a small number of Russian and Belarusian athletes were permitted to take part in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games as neutral participants, with no national flags or anthems, a contingent of athletes from the two countries was allowed to use both flags and anthems at the subsequent Paralympic Games.
