Russian athletes, competing under the Russian flag, will be back at the Paralympics for the first time since Sochi 2014 after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) confirmed on Tuesday that it has awarded Russian athletes six slots at Milan Cortina next month.
In a decision that could signal a similar move coming soon from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the IPC has also welcomed Belarus back to the fold, with four slots given to Belarusian athletes.
Twenty competitors from Belarus and Russia are currently competing at the Winter Olympics as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), with 13 of those from Russia.
The IPC suspended both countries following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which meant there were no Russians at all at the last Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
Russian athletes were also completely banned from Rio de Janeiro in 2016 because of Russia’s state-sponsored doping program, but did compete as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They competed as “Individual Neutral Athletes” in Paris in 2024 and again in Milan Cortina. A Russian Paralympic Committee delegation was allowed to compete at Tokyo 2020 but not under a Russian flag.
Russia’s return to the Paralympics has looked likely ever since September, when the IPC’s general assembly decided to lift its partial suspensions of the Belarusian and Russian and national Paralympic committees.
But it was not certain until December, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ordered the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) to lift its ban on Belarusian and Russian athletes. With this hurdle removed, skiers and snowboarders from the two allies have been able to compete in World Cup events.
In a statement, the IPC explained that following its decision in September and CAS ruling in December, Belarus and Russia were eligible to apply for “bipartite slots” in the events governed by FIS. These slots are granted to individual athletes who have not been able to reach the qualification standards for reasons beyond their control.
As a result, the statement continued, Russia has been awarded two slots in Alpine skiing, two in cross-country skiing, and two in snowboarding. There is one male and one female slot in Alpine skiing and cross-country skiing, but the two snowboard slots are for male athletes. Belarus has been given four slots, all in cross-country skiing, and they are for one male athlete and three females.
Russian news agency TASS has already reported that three-time Paralympic Alpine skiing champion Aleksey Bugaev will take one of those slots, with recent World Cup-winning cross-country skier Anastasiia Bagiian also set to compete.
The 2026 Winter Paralympics take place in Milan Cortina from March 6-15.
The IOC’s next event is the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal later this year.