Within hours of bombs falling on Ukraine, major world sports and cultural institutions moved to isolate Russian athletes and artists — banning them from platforms that have long brought glory to Vladimir Putin's regime. In general, sports and cultural officials have long loathed to ban participants based on international news off the stage and field, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed many of these institutions to take a stand. "As global citizens, as we watch the unbelievably horrific tragedy happening in Ukraine, in our most hopeful selves, we hope that sport will have that same impact [like with South Africa] and the exclusion from those stages will create a dynamic where this war will be de-escalated," said Lebowitz.