Impassable barrier: why Russia won't be at the 2026 Paralympics after all

Reinstatement, it turns out, does not guarantee a place at the Milan Games. Russian athletes will not attend the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy. This was announced by the press service of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), destroying the joyful mood that prevailed among our athletes after the lifting of all sanctions against them. Taking into account the non-admission of representatives of winter sports from Russia to Beijing 2022 for political reasons, they will miss the second Paralympics in a row.

Against everything

IPC President Andrew Parsons made a comment on the issue of the next non-admission of Russians to international competitions. According to him, the main obstacle for our Paralympians was the position of several organizations. Among them: the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) — voted against admission on October 21; the International Biathlon Union (IBU) — at the end of August confirmed the decision to suspend from September 2022; the World Curling Federation — in January 2025 extended the suspension of Russians and Belarusians based on the recommendations of the IOC for team sports.

It was the opposition of these three federations that prevented the Russian Paralympians from getting to the Games — they simply cannot participate in the qualifying starts.

"The positions of FIS, IBU and World Curling currently mean that athletes and teams from Belarus and Russia cannot compete, which makes it impossible for them to qualify for the Winter Paralympic Games," Parsons said. — The IPC respects the decision of the General Assembly to lift the partial suspension of the Russian and Belarusian Paralympic Committees, but we also fully respect the decisions of each international federation regarding the sports for which they are responsible.

"This is Nazism," Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, commented on the situation to Izvestia.

The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) has announced that they will fight to the last for the right to participate in the 2026 Paralympics.

"On Thursday morning, October 23, we talked with the staff of the International Paralympic Committee about the possibility of athletes participating by bilateral invitation, but we did not receive a specific answer to this question," Pavel Rozhkov, head of the Russian Olympic Committee, was quoted by TASS as saying. — We have been informed that this possibility will be explored. Thus, the hope of participating in the Games, although minimal, still remains. However, as a rule, a very small number of athletes who are not among the leaders are allowed to participate in competitions by bilateral invitations. But this does not mean that we give up. The PKR will fight to the end.

Unfulfilled hope

Back in September, it seemed that Russian athletes had a chance to participate in the Paralympics in Italy, and for the first time since 2014 under their own flag. All thanks to the breakthrough achievement of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), which has achieved the full restoration of the national team's rights in the IPC, including national symbols.

Unfortunately, the organization that admitted us is directly responsible for only one Winter Olympic discipline, sledge hockey. The selection process has ended there at the moment, and all participants in future competitions are known. And no one will review the results of the qualification in hindsight. The remaining five winter Paralympic sports are divided between FIS, IBU and World Curling, which refused to admit Russians.

— There are Nazis in the federations who do not want to let athletes attend the Paralympic Games. Moreover, the decision goes against the decision of the International Paralympic Committee," Mikhail Terentyev, a Paralympic ski racing champion and State Duma deputy, told Izvestia. — It's a very sad story. Nazism is always inhuman. Challenge the decision? Further actions are up to the Russian Paralympic Committee. They quietly conducted communications, achieved the restoration of anti-ship missiles. Diplomacy must win, but it loves silence.

In fact, a distorted situation has developed in Paralympic sports right now — the Russian national team can participate in the Games under its own flag and anthem, but is unable to qualify for them due to the opposition of federations that are engaged in classical sports as their main activity, and competitions for people with disabilities (Ed.) - insofar asbecause. In general, World Curling considered the issue based on the recommendations of the IOC on team sports, not taking into account that the Paralympians have a completely different situation.

It seems that the RPC still has a lot of work to do to make the return of our Paralympians final.