Russian athletes, Belarusians for competing neutral in 2026 Winter Olympics Olympic Games News

Athletes will undergo checks to prove that they do not support the war in Ukraine actively or have links with the army.

The International Olympic Committee said that the Russians will compete as neutral and neutral athletes without national knowledge or their anthem in Milan Cortina 2026 winter games, while preserving the same sanctions that Paris summer games suffer last year.

In October 2023, the International Olympic Committee suspended the Russian Olympic Committee for recognition on the regional Olympic Councils of the regions occupied by Russia in Ukraine-Luhansk, Donetsk, Jacon and Zaburisia-after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying that the move was over from the Olympiad.

“We also talked about the independent neutral athletes (AINS). This will not be a new thing,” the head of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsi Kovantry, told a news conference. “The Executive Council will take the same approach that took place in Paris (Olympiad 2024). Nothing has changed.”

Russian and polyphenian athletes who reach the qualifying times for the first time will be examined for any links with the Russian army or support for the war in Ukraine, both of which will exclude them.

Russian teams are banned from games. Belarus worked as a launching land for the invasion of Ukraine.

A small number of Russian athletes and individual balsamin were allowed to participate in the Olympics in Paris 2024, after its first examination by the International Olympic Committee.

They competed without the Russian or Belarusian flag. Instead, they participated as neutral athletes.

Four Russian skills in men and women were recently approved by the International Ski Federation to try to qualify for games, which begins on February 6, 2026 in Italy, as neutral athletes.