Five ski mountaineers from Russia received licenses to participate in the selection for the Olympic Games

All five Russian ski mountaineers with neutral status have received licenses from the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF), which entitle them to compete in tournaments under its auspices. This became known on December 28 from the documents of the ISMF.

Such license was granted to 35-year-old Andrey Fedorov, 22-year-old Nikita Filippov, 20-year-old Daria Zinchenko, 32-year-old Pavel Yakimov and 33-year-old Varvara Prokhorova, TASS reports with reference to the documents.

The Russians became holders of neutral status in November.

The athletes plan to compete at the second pre-Olympic season World Cup stage, which will be held from January 10 to 13 in Shahdag, Azerbaijan, and which will be used to score points for selection for the Olympics-2026 in Italy.

Earlier, on December 21, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that national sports federations should continue to work on the return of Russian athletes to world competitions. He also emphasized the need to return Russian athletes to international competitions as soon as possible in order not to waste time for athletes, especially young ones, who may end their careers before they have had time to prove themselves.

On March 28, 2023, the IOC executive committee recommended that only those Russians who do not support the special operation be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. It was also proposed to deny participation to athletes associated with the Armed Forces and security agencies of the Russian Federation.