World Gymnastics Lifts Restrictions On Russian, Belarusian Athletes.

Moscow/Mynsk; May 2026: World Gymnastics has lifted all restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes, allowing them to compete immediately under their national flags for the first time since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The organisation’s Executive Committee said yesterday, on May 18th that it had “decided to lift all restrictions applicable to Russian and Belarusian athletes since February 2022, with immediate effect”, according to a statement, verified by Maverick News 30. The Executive Committee (EC) have met in Sharm-El-Sheikh (EGYPT) on 16-17 May 2026, wherein it was decided to lift all restrictions applicable to Russian and Belarusian athletes since February 2022, with immediate effect. The ‘FIG Ad-Hoc rules’ are therefore no longer in force.

In the said meeting at Egypt, the EC has further approved the following nationality changes:

Yasir Amjad El Sakka: MAG gymnast – Former: PALESTINE / New: CANADA

Adam Lakomy: MAG gymnast – Former: USA / New: CZECHIA

Léonie Ouvrier: ACRO gymnast – Former: FRANCE / New: USA

Silvia Santiago: WAG judge – Former: SPAIN / New: PUERTO RICO

World Gymnastics, formerly known as the International Gymnastics Federation, is the governing body for international competition across all gymnastics disciplines.

The move reverses restrictions imposed in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, the federation barred athletes from Russia and Belarus from international competition and introduced broader measures targeting events and national symbols associated with the two countries.

It was on 07th May this year, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew its recommendation for sanctions against Belarusian athletes introduced after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The decision led to the reinstation of Belarus in international sports, including allowing athletes to compete under the national flag. Earlier, both the Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to return to competition as neutral participants beginning in late 2024, though they remained prohibited from competing under their national flags or anthems.

The latest decision restores full participation rights across all five disciplines governed by World Gymnastics, including artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, acrobatic gymnastics, aerobic gymnastics and trampolining. Russia’s war against Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the country’s sports community, with hundreds of Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed and hundreds of sports facilities damaged or destroyed in Russian missile and drone attacks.

In March 2023, Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Gutzeit had welcomed the postponement of the decision to admit athletes from these countries back into the Olympics and said that the ministry will continue working with international sports federations as they are the ones making the final decision regarding the admission of athletes to competitions.

“Now we will continue to work in the same direction so that international federations that are still considering this issue do not change their position”, he had asserted in his Facebook post. Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with the Kyiv Independent, prior to the IOC’s announcement, Gutzeit said that he didn’t understand how Russians could be allowed to take part in international sporting events.

The decision to clear the path for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Olympics sparked outrage from Ukraine and its partners.

A total of 34 countries called on the IOC to keep its previous recommendation to not allow Russians to participate. Many Russian athletes are members of military clubs such as the Central Sports Club of the Army (CSKA), which remains part of Russia’s Defence Ministry.

“Russia won 71 medals in the Tokyo Olympics. 45 of them were won by athletes who are also members of the Central Sports Club of the Russian Army. The army that commits atrocities, kills, rapes, and loots”, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had said.

Gutzeit said 262 Ukrainian athletes and coaches were killed by Russian forces, as of March 21, 2023. Russia’s war against Ukraine has also damaged 343 sports facilities and completely or partially destroyed 95 of them, Ukraine’s Sports Ministry reported. “We believe that they see what is happening in Ukraine, that they see how athletes from Russia and Belarus support this military aggression, that they stand with their troops who are fighting on our territory, killing Ukrainians, and they realize that now is not the time to bring back Russian and Belarusian athletes”, Gutzeit said.

Recently, however, Russian and Belarusian athletes have gradually begun returning to international competition as major sporting bodies, including the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee, ease restrictions imposed after the invasion.

Team Maverick.