NEW DELHI: Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete under their own national flags at the 2026 Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, the Games’ governing body confirmed to AFP on Tuesday.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) told AFP the athlete would be “treated like (one from) any other country.”
Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned from competing under their own flags since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The IPC unexpectedly lifted its suspension of the Russian and Belarusian athlete at the organisation’s general assembly in September.
The partial suspension, which allowed the athlete to compete only as a neutral, was put in place in 2023, replacing a complete ban enacted after Russia’s invasion in 2022.
The athletes from the two nations has been permitted to accumulate ranking points since Russia and Belarus won an appeal against the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in December. The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) has been awarded six wildcards for the upcoming Games, receiving places in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding.
The participant has already been determined, with the RPC announcing three-time alpine skiing gold medallist Alexey Bugaev among those taking part. Russia was awarded two slots in alpine skiing, two in cross-country skiing and two in snowboarding. IANS
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