Russian athletes will compete in the 2026 Winter Games under a neutral flag

(AFP) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday authorized the participation in the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games to Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag and strict conditions, as it already did for the Paris 2024 Games.

"The executive committee will adopt exactly the same approach as the one adopted in Paris," stated the new president of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry, i.e. the possibility to compete under a neutral flag, in an individual capacity, on the condition of not having any links with the military and not having publicly supported the invasion of Ukraine.

The decision made during the executive committee meeting held in Milan comes as no surprise, as Coventry had backed the solution approved in Paris and had not changed its mind since then.

"It is better for our movement to make sure that all athletes are represented," the Zimbabwean has insisted since her election in March at the helm of world sport.

The presence of a small group of Russians and Belarusians in the French capital - 25 athletes in total and 5 medals - had satisfied the IOC, which sought to bring together athletes from around the world and avoid a boycott by Ukraine and its closest allies.

The size of their delegations for the Winter Games (February 6-February 22) now depends on the international federations, in charge of the qualification process and which continue, some of them, to ban Russians and Belarusians from participating in their competitions.

This is the case of the International Ski Federation -whose disciplines account for more than half of the podiums at the Winter Olympics-, biathlon and luge, while the skating federation authorizes one competitor per nation and per discipline.