MILAN — Officially, Russia is banned from the Olympics because Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina, there will be no Russian flags, no Russian anthems and no Russian national colors incoporated in the competition. (The same holds true for Belarus, which has supported Russia in the war.)
But there will be athletes with Russian and Belarussian passports competing as ‘Individual Neutral Athletes,’ or AINs for short, if they meet specific conditions. That contingent will include 13 Russians and seven Belarussians, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Jan. 29.
If any of the AIN athletes were to win gold, a wordless anthem commissioned by the IOC would play. And none of the them will be allowed to participate in the Opening Ceremony Feb. 6. The IOC used the same procedure for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
How do ‘neutral’ athletes qualify?
Russia and Belarus were banned from competing in the Olympics for violating the Olympic truce. The truce stems from a tradition of laying down arms to allow athletes to compete in peace. But now athletes have an avenue to compete even if their own countries have been banned.
At the request of the IOC, the international federations in each sport determine whether to allow Russian athletes to compete in their events. That resulted in opportunity from some and bans from others.
Next comes the screening process. A panel created by the IOC reviews the athletes’ activity and posts on social media. Any public support for the war against Ukraine or ties to the war is supposed to disqualify athletes.
Athletes from team sports are not eligible to compete.
Who blocked the Russians
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) did not offer Russians a chance to qualify as through the neutral athlete pathway.
‘I agree with and support the IBSF’s decision,’ Elana Meyers Taylor, a five-time Olympic medalist, told NBC. ‘Sport should be used to promote peace and fair play, and we need to stand firm against those that don’t support those values.’
Athletes from banned countries are barred from playing in team sports, so the World Curling Federation and the International Ice Hockey Federation had no decision to make regarding the Milano Cortina Games.
The Russians fought back through the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn bans from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation and International Luge Federation. The International Biathlon Union has fought to maintain its ban of the neutrals
The International Skating Union and International Ski Mountaineering Federation allowed Russians a chance to qualify as neutrals.
Impact of the bans
For Russia, the bans began with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Olympics for state-sponsored doping. So-called ‘clean’ Russian athletes got to compete.
More than 200 Russians participated at the 2022 Winter Olympics and they won 32 medals, including five gold. Four days after those Olympics ended Jan. 20, Russia invaded Ukraine.
The subsequent ban was far stricter.
Under ‘Individual Neutral Athletes’ screening process, 15 Russians competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and two won medals. Belarussian gymnast Ivan Litvinovich was the only neutral athlete to win a gold with his victory in the men’s trampoline.
Will Russian athletes compete in ice hockey and ice skating?
NHL players will compete in the Olympics for the first time since 2014 but Russian stars such as Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin won’t be on the ice. Russian and Belarussian athletes are excluded from competing in team sports because their countries are banned. Russian figure skaters have won gold and silver in the women’s singles in the past two Olympics. But this year only one Russian woman figure skater, Adeliia Petrosian, has qualified as an Individual Neutral Athlete.
Which Russian athletes will compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
Alpine skiing (2): Yulia Pleshkova, Simon Efimov
Cross country skiing (2): Savelii Korostelev, Daria Nepryaeva
Figure skating (2): Adeliia Petrosian, Petr Gumennik
Luge (2): Daria Olesik, Pavel Repilov.
Short track speedskating (2): Ivan Posashkov, Alena Krylova
Ski Mountaineering (1): Nikita Filippov
Speed Skating (2): Kseniia Korzhova, Anastasiia Semenova
How are Ukrainians responding?
In December, the International Luge Federation withdrew eligibility of three Russian athletes whose neutrality came under question, according to the Associated Press. But that didn’t end the controversy when days later other Russians competed in a World Cup event in Lake Placid, New York.
Ukrainian luger Anton Dukach told reporters he doesn’t think any Russian athletes should be allowed to compete.
‘They are not neutral,’ Dukach said. ‘They are supporting the war against Ukraine, against civilians, against family members, against me.’
Two Russian lugers will compete in the Games.
On Dec. 10, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation granted neutral status to two Russian cross country skiers. That same day, a group called Base of Ukrainian Sports (Ukrsportbase) used its X account to accuse one of the skiers of having ‘illegally visited annexed Crimea, where she participated in training camps.’
Ukrsportbase’s mission: ‘We inform about Ukrainian sports and the criminal support of Russian aggression by athletes outside of politics.