A country that has been banned from attending the 2024 Paris Olympic Games may be allowed to return in 2028 if two specific things happen first.
It's been just six months since the thrilling 2024 Olympic Games came to an end with the closing ceremony in Paris, and sports fans are already discussing details of the next Olympics.
Los Angeles will host the next Olympic Games when they get underway in July 2028, with as many as 206 different nations send the best athletes they have to offer to compete for coveted gold, silver and bronze medals.
However, perhaps the biggest story of the 2028 games could be the return of one controversial country who were banned from coming to Paris to compete last year.
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Ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that they had sanctioned both Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the ongoing armed conflict that has followed.
But, the upcoming elections for the president of the IOC could give Russia a path to the 2028 games, as British Olympic legend Sebastian Coe, who is one of seven candidates hoping to be elected, has explained would need to happen for him to allow Russia to compete in Los Angeles.
During an interview with Piers Morgan on the Uncensored YouTube channel, Coe explained that he would support the reintroduction of Russia in future Olympic Games if US President Donald Trump is successful in ongoing peace talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin to end war in Ukraine.
“It’s not for me to design peace treaties,” Coe explained during the interview. “All wars end with a table, a map and people. Depends where the table is, who’s sitting around it and what does the map look like.”
“If you get to a situation where you have a peace agreement then you would have to look very closely [at lifting the Olympic ban].”
The vote to determine which of the candidates will become the next IOC president will take place on March 20 On as the organisation's 110 members will gather in Greece to cast their votes for one of the seven candidates.
Coe, 68, is one of the favourites to win the election and, should he be successful, he will officially start his new role in June.
Ben McCrum