The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Council voted Tuesday not to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in 2026 Olympic qualification events as neutral athletes (AINs).
“The International Olympic Committee’s AIN regime has been set out as a possible pathway for athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in the Olympic Games, with each International Federation remaining responsible for the decision on whether to allow these athletes to take part in its existing qualification system,” a press release stated.
Barring any changes, athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be able to qualify for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games in Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping and snowboarding.
Those sports and disciplines account for 57 of the Winter Olympic record 116 medal events at the 2026 Games.
The IOC has said it is keeping its policies in place from the 2024 Paris Games for possible neutral athlete participation in the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.
Namely, international federations decide whether to allow the athletes to compete in Olympic qualifying. Then an IOC panel decides on an athlete-by-athlete basis whether to admit those who qualified into the Games based on specific criteria but not in team events.
FIS, and most Winter Olympic sport federations, have barred athletes from Russia and Belarus from international competition since March 2022 — shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine (using Belarus as a staging ground) four days after the last Winter Olympics ended.
Two Winter Olympic sports federations lifted their bans in the last year — the International Skating Union and the International Ski Mountaineering Federation — allowing some athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in individual neutral capacities with the possibility of qualifying for the Milan Cortina Games.
Two figure skaters from Russia and one from Belarus qualified last month to compete at the 2026 Olympics, should they be approved by an IOC eligibility review panel. Short- and long-track speed skaters can also qualify in upcoming months.
At the 2022 Olympics, athletes from Russia won a leading 11 medals in cross-country skiing, including four golds with Aleksander Bolshunov earning three. The athletes represented the Russian Olympic Committee at the Beijing Games and could not use the Russian name, flag or anthem due to the nation’s doping violations.
