Russian, Belarusian 'neutral' skiers barred from 2026 Olympics

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation says its council has voted against allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in qualifiers for the upcoming Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

The decision Tuesday by the council of the governing body, known as FIS, effectively blocks Russian skiers and snowboarders from dozens of events at February's Games.

The International Olympic Committee allows athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus to compete as "Individual Neutral Athletes", as they did at last year's summer Games in Paris.

However, the IOC allows the international federations that run each sport to decide whether to use the system in their qualifiers. FIS, which has barred the Russia and Belarus national teams since 2022, has opted against allowing neutral athletes.

FIS said the decision also applies to Paralympic events it oversees. The International Paralympic Committee restored Russia and Belarus to full membership last month.

Russia's national ski association expressed "deep disappointment "following the FIS council vote, which it called discriminatory.

"We will continue to actively pursue all available avenues to ensure that athletes are not penalized for political circumstances beyond their control, including through legal action," it said.

The decision comes four days before the first Alpine skiing World Cup event of the season, a women's giant slalom in Austria.

Russia isn't a major power in the marquee Alpine skiing events, but is one of the strongest nations in cross-country and a repeat medalist in snowboard slalom, ski jumping and freestyle.

Allowing Russians to compete as neutral athletes could have caused friction between FIS and the mainly northern European countries that host its World Cup events.

One day after Russia's conflict with Ukraine began in February 2022, FIS declared that Russian skiers could keep competing, but without their national flag or anthem. A day later, Norway pledged to bar the Russians from upcoming competitions it was hosting. FIS swiftly backtracked on its policy and excluded Russian skiers altogether.

FIS is by far the biggest of the nine international sports federations which oversee sports on the Olympic program. Its events will make up almost half of the total medals awarded at Milano-Cortina 2026.

Without Russian representation in ski events, the number of "neutral athletes" at the Games could be as low as single figures, depending on how qualifiers go in other sports.

So far, only the governing bodies for ice skating and the new sport of ski mountaineering have opened up paths for Russians to qualify.

Sports like hockey and biathlon have kept bans in place, but there could soon be Russians back on the track in qualifiers for bobsled and skeleton.

The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said Monday its appeals tribunal had partly overturned a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes that was imposed in 2022. The tribunal ruled that the IBSF had to allow athletes who are deemed to meet IOC regulations for neutrals.

The IBSF was due to hold a meeting Tuesday "to analyze the order and discuss the next steps", it said. World Cup events begin next month and offer Olympic qualification ranking points.

Two Russian figure skaters and one from Belarus qualified as neutrals last month, and more could follow in speed skating via upcoming qualifiers. One Russian has qualified for a spot in ski mountaineering, the only confirmed neutral athlete in a snow sport.

By contrast, there were 206 athletes on the Russian Olympic Committee team at Beijing 2022, while 24 competed for Belarus.

Agencies Via Xinhua