Nine Russians and Belarusians cleared for Winter Olympics

Nine Russian and Belarusian athletes have been granted permission to compete in qualifying events for next year’s Winter Olympics as neutral athletes.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) had initially banned them from taking part but the ban was overturned by a sports court last week.

The select athletes have now received Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) status after meeting the International Olympic Committee’s (ICC) eligibility criteria, but will not be able to compete under the flag of their country.

In October, the FIS council had voted against Russians and Belarusians competing in its qualification events for the Games in Milan and Cortina, which starts on 6 February.

The Russian Ski Association (RSF), the Belarusian Ski Union (BSU) and 17 athletes from the countries made appeals against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) which partially upheld them, clearing the way for previously banned athletes to take part in the Games.

Belarusian freestyle skiing aerialist Hanna Huskova, who won gold at Pyeongchang 2018 and silver at Beijing 2022, headlines the initial list alongside Russia’s Anastasia Tatalina, who took gold in the women’s ski big air at the 2021 World Championships.

More athletes could also now be granted permission to compete.

“Over the course of the upcoming days and weeks, as more eligibility reviews are conducted and more decisions are made, FIS will publish updated versions of the AIN list,” the sport’s governing body said in a statement.

Athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports have been banned from many sports since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In September the IOC said it would allow neutral athletes to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics under the same conditions they did at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but that the final decision would rest with individual sports federations.