Athletes are checked to prove they are not actively supporting the war in Ukraine or have ties to the Army.
Released on September 19, 2025
The Russians will compete as neutral, independent athletes without flags or anthems at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee said it has maintained the same sanctions as last year’s Paris summer match.
The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October 2023 to recognize the Russian Olympic Council of Russia in the Russian Occupation Areas of Ukraine – Luhansk, Donetsk, Herson and Zaporidia regions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Recommended Stories
List of 4 itemsEnd of the list
“We also talked about independent neutral athletes (AINS), which is nothing new,” IOC president Kirsty Coventry said at a press conference. “The Executive Committee will take the exact same approach that took place in Paris (the 2024 Olympics). Nothing has changed.”
Russian and Belarus athletes who have reached qualifying time will be first examined for links with the Russian army or support for the war in Ukraine, both of which will rule them out.
Russian teams are banned from the game. Belarus acted as a staging site for the invasion of Ukraine.
A small number of Russians and Belarusian athletes have been allowed to participate as AINS at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris after passing the first rigorous IOC screening.
They competed without the national anthem with either the Russian or Belarusian flag. Instead, they joined as neutral athletes.
Four Russian figure skaters, male and female singles, were recently approved by the International Skating Union and sought to qualify for the game, which began as neutral athletes in Italy on February 6, 2026.
