- Статьи
- Local news
- Olympic Games Program-2026: schedule by day and which Russian athletes are allowed
Olympic Games Program-2026: schedule by day and which Russian athletes are allowed
Russian athletes are preparing for the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy in a neutral status. To date, only a few of them have managed to win Olympic quotas, and the total number of participants, according to Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, is unlikely to exceed 20 people. All the details about who is traveling from Russia to the 2026 Olympics are in the Izvestia article.
Conditions for the admission of Russian athletes to the 2026 Olympics in a neutral status
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), together with international federations, has set strict conditions for the admission of Russian athletes to the Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. They can only perform in an individual neutral status, without state symbols. In team sports such as hockey and curling, participation in team disciplines is not provided under the current conditions.
Each athlete undergoes a multi-level admission procedure, including verification by the international federation and subsequent coordination with the IOC. This process makes the path to the Olympics unpredictable, and the Russian delegation itself will be small and scattered. Each international federation defined the conditions for the admission of Russian athletes in its own way, which led to a different situation in different sports and created unequal conditions for athletes.
Russian figure skaters at the 2026 Olympics: Peter Gumennik and Adelia Petrosyan
Peter Gumennik and Adelia Petrosyan won the right to compete at the Games following the results of one of the ISU qualification starts in the fall of 2025. This tournament has become their only international start of the season, which creates additional difficulties in preparation.
Figure skater Peter Gumennik
Humennik, having scored a total of 262.82 points, took the first place among men. Petrosyan won the women's competition with a score of 209.63 points. Both athletes are proficient in the quadruple jumps, but they had to prepare for the main start of the quadrennial in isolation from the main international competitions.
Ski mountaineering at the 2026 Olympics: Nikita Filippov's participation
Nikita Filippov won the right to compete in the sport making its debut at the Games, ski mountaineering. The 23-time Russian champion successfully qualified through the World Cup, taking high places, including seventh place in the vertical race at the 2025 World Championships.
According to the athlete, obtaining a neutral admission in ski mountaineering required significant personal expenses. As Nikita Filippov reported, obtaining a license and participating in the selection process cost him about €5,000. Filippov noted that he tries to be careful in public statements and does not belong to any structures, hoping for a positive decision by the IOC commission. His performance will be historic, as he will be one of the first Olympians in this new type of program.
Russian speed skaters at the 2026 Olympics: Ksenia Korzhova and Anastasia Semenova
In speed skating, two Russian athletes qualified for the Games. Ksenia Korzhova won the right to compete at distances of 3 and 5 thousand meters in the best time of the season, taking 17th place in the final ranking of the World Cup. Anastasia Semenova qualified for the mass start, taking 15th place in the A division at one stage and eventually taking 21st place in the ISU ranking.
Ksenia Korzhova in the 3000 m race
The head of the Russian Skating Union, Nikolai Gulyaev, noted that the ISU's internal rules for obtaining neutral status were very strict, but this gives confidence that the IOC's verification will be successful. At the same time, many leaders of the national team, including Semyon Yelistratov and Pavel Kulizhnikov, were not allowed to qualify.
Ski racing at the 2026 Olympics: Savely Korostelev and Daria Nepryaeva
The CAS recognized certain provisions of the FIS decision as unlawful and ordered the federation to review the conditions of admission, after which Russian athletes were given the opportunity to compete in a neutral status. Savely Korostelev and Daria Nepryaeva, who immediately performed at the World Cup in Davos, promptly received neutral status.
Skiers Savely Korostelev and Daria Nepryaeva
They managed to score enough points to receive Olympic quotas. These quotas are non-nominal and allow a limited number of athletes to be entered in individual disciplines, subject to all admission conditions. Korostelev himself assessed his chances as minimal before the court's decision, noting that the time for qualification was almost lost.
Schedule of performances of Russian athletes at the Olympic Games-2026
The XXV Winter Olympic Games will be held from 6 to 22 February 2026. The dates and venue were approved on June 24, 2019 at the 134th session of the IOC in Lausanne (Switzerland). The performances of the Russian athletes will be distributed over different days and locations. The skaters will take to the ice in the second week of the Games: short programs are expected on February 11-12, and free skating on February 13-14.
Speed skating will be held in Milan from February 8 to 16, with a distance of 3 thousand km. The Women's World Cup, where Ksenia Korzhova will perform, is scheduled for February 10. The ski races in Valdi Fiemme will begin on February 8 with the women's skiathlon. Ski mountaineering competitions in Pralla al Piano are scheduled for February 18.
The chances of Russian athletes in other sports at the 2026 Olympics
The selection of Russian athletes for the 2026 Winter Olympics continues in individual disciplines and is possible only in an individual neutral status. Special attention is focused on figure skating: according to the rules of the International Skating Union, two unnamed quotas are provided for Russian athletes — one each in men's and women's single skating.
In a number of winter sports, individual Russian athletes have been granted neutral status and the right to participate in international competitions under the auspices of their respective federations, which allows them to maintain the theoretical possibility of qualifying for the Olympics while meeting all qualification requirements. In particular, the neutral status of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) was granted to skiers Yulia Pleshkova, Alexander Andrienko, Semyon Efimov and Ivan Kuznetsov, as well as freestyle skier Anastasia Tatalina, snowboarder Maria Travinicheva and biathlete Artem Galunin.
At the same time, having a neutral status means admission to international starts, but it does not guarantee an Olympic quota — the final right to participate depends on the results of qualifications and decisions of international federations.
The situation in skeleton, bobsleigh and luge remains uncertain. Despite granting neutral status to individual athletes, the international federations for these sports have not confirmed the admission of Russian athletes to full Olympic qualification, which effectively limits their ability to compete for a trip to the Games.
Russian hockey and curling players will not participate in the 2026 Olympics: team sports are not subject to the admission mechanism for neutral athletes in accordance with the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee.
The final lists of participants in the 2026 Olympic Games will be formed following the completion of all qualifying starts and verification procedures by the international federations and the IOC within the time limits set by the regulations.
What awaits Russian athletes at the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy
Performing in a neutral status remains a serious challenge for Russian athletes. They will compete without a flag or anthem, and the participation of each athlete depends on the final decision of the international structures. Each of their performances will be a demonstration of their personal skills and perseverance. In such circumstances, as Sports Minister Degtyarev noted, "every victory is worth its weight in gold."
Their path to the Games and performances can already be considered as a significant personal achievement in the face of the most difficult external circumstances. Despite the small number of the delegation, the very fact of their presence at the main sporting event of the fourth anniversary will be of particular importance.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
