The bobsledder John Jackson, who was part of Britain’s four-man team in Sochi now set to be upgraded to a bronze medal because of Russian doping, has welcomed the International Olympic Committee’s ban on Russia – and its new proposal that there should be special retrospective medal ceremonies at the Winter Olympics next year.

Jackson was in a four-man Great Britain crew that came fifth in 2014 but last week the two Russian crews that finished ahead of them were disqualified for doping.

“Initially we thought it would take 12-18 months for us receive the medal because of the Russians appealing to the court of arbitration for sport but the IOC’s announcement shows they do not want to hang about with this,” he said.

On Tuesday the IOC also confirmed that there will be no Russian flags or anthems in Pyeongchang, and that the country’s athletes would only be able to compete if cleared by an anti-doping panel – a decision with which Jackson agreed. “It would lovely to receive the medal in Pyeongchang but we are not getting carried away,” he said. “It’s been an interesting couple of weeks but we still haven’t got the medal yet.”

The British Olympic Association also backed the exclusion of Russia. The BOA chairman, Sir Hugh Robertson, said: “We take no pleasure in the outcome of the IOC commissions. However, the IOC has taken the right decision.” Nicole Sapstead, the chief executive at UK Anti-Doping, also praised the IOC, calling the banning of the Russian team “a proportional response”.

If Jackson’s bronze medal is ratified, it will make Sochi 2014 the most successful Winter Olympics in British history, eclipsing the four medals won at the inaugural event in Chamonix in 1924.

So far 25 Russian athletes have been retrospectively banned from the Olympic Games for life because of what went on in Sochi. But on Wednesday 22 of them instigated an appeal to Cas.

Meanwhile, Bach has raised the possibility that Russia could be welcomed back into the Olympic family quicker than expected. When asked about the possibility of a Russian flag at the closing ceremony in Pyeongchang, the IOC president said it could represent “a new beginning”.

Bach added: “If the IOC’s decision is fully accepted then it could draw a line under this very sad episode in the Olympic history on Wednesday night. “The closing ceremony could be this signal that Russia has accepted and respected the sanction, and that then a new beginning is possible and that we can look into the future of clean sport in Russia with these clean athletes.”