Russia and Belarus Allowed to Compete in 2026 Winter Paralympics

JAKARTA - Six Russian athletes and four Belarusian athletes are confirmed to have received permission to compete in the 2026 Winter Paralympics multi-branch competition in Milan-Cortina under the flags of their respective countries.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) confirmed that the 10 athletes had received an invitation from the bipartite commission to compete in para-alpine skiing, para-cross-country skiing, and para-snowboarding in the event which will take place on March 6-15, 2026.

"Russia was given a total of six slots: two in para-alpine skiing (one male, one female), two in para-cross country skiing (one male, one female), and two in para-snowboarding (both male)," the statement read, as reported by BBC Sport.

The Belarusian Paralympic Committee (NPC Belarus) received a total of four slots, all of which will compete in the cross-country skiing branch. The four Belarusian athletes who took part consisted of one male and three females.

Both countries were suspended from the Paralympic competition after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, in September 2025, the IPC lifted the ban, allowing athletes from both countries to compete under a neutral flag.

Then in December 2025, Russia and Belarus won an appeal against the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which allowed them to compete and collect ranking points.

The decision angered Ukraine's Minister of Sport, Matvii Bidnyi. I said that allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete was certainly "disappointing and outrageous".

The certainty that Russian and Belarusian athletes are involved in the Winter Olympics also made the British Minister of Culture, Lisa Nandy, upset. He said that it was a "completely wrong decision" so that the IPC should reconsider the decision they made.

"Allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flag while the brutal invasion of Ukraine continues sends a terrible message," Nandy wrote on his X social media.

This marks the first time the Russian flag has been flown at the Paralympics since the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Russia was banned from competing in multiple disciplines after that for its state-sponsored doping program before being sanctioned for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

TASS, the Russian news agency, reported that among the athletes who will compete in Milan-Cortina are Aleksey Bugaev - a three-time Paralympic champion in the alpine skiing discipline - as well as cross-country skier Ivan Golubkov and Anastasiia Bagiian, both World Championship medalists.