Six Russians and four Belarusians to compete under their nations' flags at 2026 Paralympic Games

Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes have been granted permission to compete under their national flags at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy.

Source: BBC Sport

Details: The International Paralympic Committee (IPS) has fully restored the rights of the Paralympic Committee of Russia. However, the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in six sports was restricted by some international federations that kept the ban in force.

In December Russia and Belarus won an appeal against the International Ski and Snowboard Federation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, enabling them to compete and earn ranking points.

Russian athletes have secured six places: two in para-alpine skiing, two in para-cross-country skiing and two in para-snowboarding. Belarusian athletes have been awarded four places, all in cross-country skiing.

The Russian athletes include three-time Paralympic alpine skiing champion Alexey Bugaev and world championship medal winners Ivan Golubkov and Anastasia Bagiyan. All three returned to competition in January, and Bugaev and Bagiyan have already won World Cup titles.

It will be the first time the Russian flag has been raised at the Paralympics since the 2014 Games in Sochi. The Russians were unable to compete under their own flag in 2018 and 2022 because of the state's doping programme and events following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympic Games will be held from 6 to 15 March.

Background:

• Ukraine's Minister of Youth and Sports, Matviy Bidnyi, has expressed disappointment over the upcoming participation of 10 athletes from Russia and Belarus at the 2026 Paralympics.

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