Russian teams remain banned for 2026 Winter Olympics, IOC announces

Russian teams were banned from competing in the Olympics following the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022

Russian teams remain banned from the 2026 Winter Olympics following previous sanctions imposed due to the 2022 Ukraine invasion, according to an announcement from the International Olympic Committee.

"The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place," the IOC said in a statement on Tuesday. "It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team. We take note that the IIHF has confirmed that it will follow this recommendation."

In the 2024 Paris Olympics, some individual Russian and Belarusian athletes received permission to compete in various sports following approval by the IOC. However, those athletes did not compete with a Russian or Belarusian flag or national anthem. They competed in the Summer Games as neutral athletes.

Earlier this month, the International Skating Union approved four Russian figure skaters to attempt to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics as neutral athletes. 17-year old national champion Adelia Petrosian was among the group.

No Russian athletes were approved to compete in the pairs and ice dance disciplines at an Olympic qualification meeting in September 2024. The ISU stated that "not all nominated athletes passed the rigorous screening," and those eligibility decisions are "final with regard to all applicants and not subject to appeal."

The IOC's announcement also heavily impacts the Russian men's hockey team, who has enjoyed considerable success in recent Winter Games. 

The men's team won a gold medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics with a team that featured former NHL players Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk, as well as New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin and Minnesota Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov. Meanwhile, Russia won a silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The 2026 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place from Feb. 6-22 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.