Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
IOC allows Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals in 2026 Winter Olympics, following strict vetting and maintaining sanctions.
MILAN, Italy (Reuters) - Russians will compete as neutral independent athletes without a national flag or anthem at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday, maintaining the same sanctions as the Paris Summer Games last year.
The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October 2023 for recognising regional Olympic councils for Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying the move had violated the Olympic Charter.
"We also spoke about the Independent Neutral Athletes (AINs). This will be nothing new," IOC President Kirsty Coventry told a press conference. "The Executive board will take the exact same approach that was done in Paris (2024 Olympics). Nothing has changed."
Russian and Belarusian athletes who reach qualifying times will be first vetted for any links to the Russian military or support of the war in Ukraine, both of which will exclude them.
Russian teams are banned from the Games. Belarus has acted as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine.
A small number of individual Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to take part as AINs in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics after first passing rigorous vetting by the IOC.
They competed without the Russian or Belarusian flag and anthem. Instead they took part as neutral athletes.
Four Russian figure skaters in men's and women's singles were recently approved by the International Skating Union to try to qualify for the Games, which start on February 6, 2026 in Italy, as neutral athletes.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Alex Richardson and Ken Ferris)
Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete as neutral independent athletes without a national flag or anthem at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games.
The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee for recognizing regional Olympic councils in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, including Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
Athletes will be vetted for any links to the Russian military or support of the war in Ukraine, which will exclude them from competing.
A small number of individual Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to compete as neutral athletes after passing rigorous vetting by the IOC.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are scheduled to start on February 6, 2026, in Italy.
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