No Russians or Belarusians at Winter Paralympics

Despite the International Paralympic Committee lifting its ban on them, Russian and Belarusian para-athletes will not compete in the 2026 Winter Paralympics.

The Games are overseen by the IPC, but there are four distinct governing bodies in charge of the six competitions in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Milan.

Although Russia and Belarus are now permitted to play ice hockey, three of the country’s governing bodies decided to continue their bans on the two nations after it was too late to participate in qualifying.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, where Belarus was a close ally of Russia, both nations were barred from Paralympic competition.

In 2023, an exception to the partial ban, which allows athletes to compete as neutrals, was introduced.

At a meeting last month, IPC members voted to allow Russian and Belarusian para-athletes to compete under their own flags after the two countries’ suspensions were lifted.

However, the four international federations have now informed the IPC that no two athletes are likely to make it to March’s Games in reality.

World Paralympics has already decided which nations will compete in the qualifying competition for the two remaining spots at the Games while the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), International Biathlon Union (IBU), and World Curling have not lifted their bans.

We fully respect the decisions of each international federation regarding the sports they govern, according to IPC president Andrew Parsons, just as the IPC fully respects the IPC General Assembly’s decision to not suspend NPC Belarus and NPC Russia.

Due to the positions held by FIS, IBU, and World Curling, athletes and teams from Belarus and Russia are currently unable to compete in their division’s events, preventing them from qualifying for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

The six teams for November’s Paralympic Games qualification tournament have already been chosen, despite Belarus and Russia’s ability to enter Paralympics competitions at this late stage of the process.