Foggy Milan: which of our athletes will be able to compete at the Games-2026

A year from now, on February 6, 2026, the Olympic flame will be lit at the San Siro stadium in Milan, marking the beginning of the Winter Games. Whether our athletes will be allowed to take part in the opening ceremony this time is still a question. We need to sort out the admission to the competitions themselves, which is becoming more and more problematic every day. Read more about the prospects of Russian athletes' participation in the upcoming Olympics in the Izvestia article.

Must go

At the Olympics-2026 medals will be played in 16 sports. At the moment, our athletes perform at international competitions only in one of them - ski mountaineering. The International Ski Mountaineering Federation admitted the Russians in early December. The selection for the Games is in full swing, most of the quotas will be played according to the rating, which includes World Cup stages and World Championships. Our climbers get neutral statuses, go to tournaments and earn the necessary points. There are almost no obstacles to getting to the Olympics. Everything depends more on the athletes themselves.

- I had no doubts, as soon as I learned that you can get a neutral status, I realized that I would apply, even the amount (for neutral status you have to pay €5 thousand) did not embarrass me, I was ready to give everything I had, - told "Izvestia" the strongest Russian ski-alpinist Nikita Filippov. - My dream is to win the Olympics, and when I have a dream, nothing can prevent it. The main thing is that I am supported by my family and friends and I don't mind to compete in a neutral status. Especially since everyone already knows where we come from.

Three more sports can be added to ski mountaineering. ISU, which controls figure skating, short track and speed skating, has set its own special criteria for Russians. Representatives of these disciplines will be able to take to the international ice next season, but it will be enough to snag some Olympic licenses. For figure skaters, qualification will be limited to one tournament in September, while speed skaters and short track speed skaters will spend a full season at the World Cup. In the cross-country events, selection for all athletes does not begin until October-November. Therefore, we have not missed anything important in terms of the upcoming Olympics. There is no hurry, but the main thing is to submit the list of applicants for participation in qualifying competitions until February 28.

No other federation has announced about admission to international competitions. The next good news for us is expected to come in bobsleigh, skeleton and luge. In these sports, deadlines are not imminent. The qualifying period for all doesn't start until October. Now the International Luge Federation and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation have a different headache. A year before the Olympics, the organizers do not know on which track it will be held. Now they are building a track in Cortina d'Ampezzo on an emergency basis. They say that people are working every day from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. to do everything by the end of March: at this time the IOC is waiting for an answer from the organizers. If they don't make it in time, the competitions in three sports will be held across the ocean - in Lake Placid, USA.

Among our potential participants in the Olympics we can also name hockey players. We have already passed the selection process in this sport, so there is only the question of direct admission. Here everyone is hesitating. The IOC in its recommendations excluded neutral status for representatives of team sports, but only now this instruction does not look so strict. Much depends on the international federation (IIHF), which seems to want to see one of the strongest teams in the world at tournaments, but covers itself with arguments about mythical difficulties in ensuring security in case of admission of Russians.

In general, at the Olympics in Italy, under a moderately optimistic scenario, it will be possible to see Russians in half of the sports that are represented at the Games.

Probably won't go

More than a third of Olympic winter sports are in the hands of one International Federation - FIS. It controls alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping and snowboarding. In almost all of them, most of the Olympic quotas will be played according to rankings. The qualifying period has already begun, ours are not participating.

Skiers brought the most medals at the last Olympics, but now, to go to Italy as a big team, they need to perform at the World Championships-2026. The tournament in Trondheim starts on February 26. Obviously, none of the Russians will be there. So our Olympic lineup may be limited to one man and one woman. Although the athletes themselves believe that the FIS is able to provide additional places at the Games. President of the International Ski Federation Johan Eliasch spoke in favor of admitting Russians and Belarusians, but many saw it as just a political slogan. Eliasch is a candidate for the IOC president, whose election will be held on March 20.

Biathletes and curlers remain in the red zone, i.e. among those who can get to the Games in the last place. In curling, we need to be in a particular hurry, because if we are not allowed to qualify for the World Championships in the spring, there will be no other opportunities for qualification. Since the IOC's recommendations on the inadmissibility of Russians in team events are still in effect, we should not expect curlers in Milan.

Biathlon does not follow the IOC recommendations, but acts according to its own rules. IBU sees no reason to allow our athletes to participate in international competitions.

- I think that the IBU will be the last federation to lift sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes," said "Izvestia" two-time Olympic champion in biathlon Dmitry Vasilyev. - Everyone will bring us back, but the IBU will drag it out to the end, because there are so many Russophobes there. It's not even about sports, not about the SWO, they just hate Russians. Now they enjoy their power, and voluntarily in IBU will not want to return us, using any tricks to avoid it. Here, for example, in their last letter it was said that all conditions for Russian athletes to international starts have not been fulfilled yet. But what these conditions are and what documents they were guided by, they do not say. Everything is invented and sucked out of the finger in order not to return our athletes.

Nevertheless, even if we miss this season, our biathlon can get a normal quota: two men and two women. With this composition we went to the Olympics in PyeongChang in 2018.

The course for a comeback

Even if our team at the next Olympics is limited to ski mountaineers and skate representatives, it can still be bigger than we had at the Summer Games in Paris. Then we ourselves seriously reduced the team. Athletes in rowing refused to qualify, gymnasts and swimmers (except for Yulia Efimova and Evgeny Somov) did not want to receive neutral status, wrestlers did not like the methods of final selection. As a result, there were only 10 Russians in Paris.

But after those Games a lot changed. Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev outlined a course for a comeback. Leaders and athletes heard that neutral status is not so bad, so they began to care about getting it. Gymnasts, swimmers - all those who could compete for Olympic medals in the summer.

Among those who actively opposed neutrality was the head of the Russian Ski Racing Federation, Elena Vyalbe. Back in the summer, it was hard to imagine that only two skiers could go to the Games without a flag and anthem. It was thought that Vyalbe simply would not let them go. Now there are no such barriers in sight. The athletes themselves are ready for the Games and are going to Italy to study the terrain. In February, Savely Korostelev, Alexander Bolshunov, Daria Nepryayeva and Sergey Volkov went for a ride on the Olympic snow. And this trip to Europe is not the first for the skiers. Veronika Stepanova, who spoke loudly and a lot about not accepting the neutral status, also changed her mind. The skier still does not want to return without flag and anthem, but if "senior comrades" have decided, why not perform.

The Olympics are still a year away, so a lot can change. At the moment, there is still hope that we will still have someone to cheer for at the Games in Italy.