(ATR) The IOC Executive Board ended its meeting today without reaching any decisions about the status of the ban on the Russian Olympic Committee.
The board met for nearly four hours deliberating on whether to lift, partially lift, or uphold its ban on the ROC. Russian athletes are participating in PyeongChang as neutral athletes as part of the Olympic Athletes From Russia delegation.
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said that the board had heard from the OAR Implementation Group and "discussed the report which was presented by the chair of the OAR IG Nicole Hoevertsz".
"The IOC will continue its deliberations tomorrow," Adams said.
By delaying any action to the morning of Feb. 25 the IOC Executive Board have pushed any possible resolution to the last minute before the upcoming IOC Session. The IOC could not confirm if the issue of Russian participation would be discussed at the session, rather saying that all options are possible.
The Executive Board could choose to take action on the closing ceremony and communicate its decision to the session. The board could also make a recommendation leaving the session to vote on whether Russia walks into the closing ceremony under its own flag.
Earlier in the day influential IOC member Sam Ramsamy said that it would be hard to convince the session to lift the ban on Russia given two positive doping cases at the PyeongChang 2018 Games.
ROC Vice President and OAR chef de mission Stanislav Pozdnyakov and silver medalist figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva presented to the board along with the OAR IG. In a press conference afterwards Pozdnyakov told journalists that the pair spent 10 minutes appealing to the IOC in order to let the team walk in under the Russian flag.
Pozdnyakov said he apologized for the two positive doping cases, but conceded that the cases "had to do with negligence rather than intent".
"We firmly believe we have fully complied with the terms and conditions," Pozdnyakov said. "But still we believe the best award for us would be to have our national flag returned and our Olympic Committee admitted."
Medvedeva said that in her opinion it would bring her joy to see the Russian flag at the closing ceremony, since "I did not see my flag raised" during her medal ceremony.
IOC members leaving the executive board meeting throughout the day brushed aside journalists saying they could not speak about the tone of the meeting or what was delaying a decision.
Written by Aaron Bauer
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