The IOC has lifted its block on Britain hosting Olympic-related events after the government’s U-turn on Russian athletes being allowed to compete at the Paris Games.
The Times revealed last week that the sports minister Stuart Andrew had written to the IOC president Thomas Bach saying the government now supported the IOC’s position that individual Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to compete as neutrals.
That was in contrast to ministers’ previous hard-line approach on Russian athletes — a stance that last summer resulted in London losing out on hosting a prestigious Olympic qualifying event for new sports taking place in Paris.
It is understood that Andrew’s letter to Bach aligning the government’s policy to the IOC’s has led to the organisation agreeing that
