The sharpest fault line now runs through track and field. World Athletics announced last week that its blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, imposed in March 2022, would remain in place. President Sebastian Coe said the council had found “no tangible movement towards peace negotiations” and that the integrity of competitions required the sanctions to stay. The Russian athletics federation responded by filing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, calling the ban discriminatory. World Athletics said it would “strenuously defend” its position. The CAS proceedings will determine whether Russian track and field athletes can compete before the Olympic qualifying window narrows further, setting up a legal sprint that will define the next phase of sport’s most protracted eligibility dispute.