- Category
- Latest news
Russian and Belarusian Athletes Cleared to Compete Under National Flags at 2026 Winter Paralympics
- Authors
![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes are set to compete under their national flags at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games, according to reporting by the BBC on February 17.
The development follows a September 2025 decision by the International Paralympic Committee to lift its ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
However, four international federations responsible for all six sports featured at the Winter Paralympics initially chose to maintain their own restrictions, preventing those athletes from taking part.
In December 2025, Russia and Belarus successfully appealed a ruling by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing their athletes to compete and earn ranking points.
The International Paralympic Committee later confirmed to BBC Sport that 10 athletes from Russia and Belarus received invitations to compete in:
para alpine skiing;
para cross-country skiing;
para snowboarding.
This will mark the first time the Russian flag has been raised at the Paralympic Games since Sochi 2014, after earlier bans tied first to the country’s state-run doping program and later to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy condemned the move in strong terms. “This was an absolutely wrong decision,” she said.
“Allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flags while the brutal invasion of Ukraine continues sends a terrible signal,” Nandy wrote, urging the International Paralympic Committee to urgently reconsider the ruling.
The 2026 Winter Paralympic Games are scheduled to take place March 6–15 across two Italian host cities: Milan and Cortina.
Earlier, amid controversy surrounding the IOC’s ban of Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, pro-Ukrainian online account Saint Javelin raised concerns about what it described as inconsistencies in the International Olympic Committee’s approach to Russian and Ukrainian athletes.
Saint Javelin noted that in previous seasons, Russian lugers Pavel Repilov and Daria Olesik competed while displaying the logo of Energon LLC on their equipment—a sanctioned company linked to drone production for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")