A few days removed from chatter about Russia’s potential participation in the 2026 Olympic Games made the rounds on the blogosphere, the IOC has confirmed that Russian teams will remain banned for the upcoming Milano-Cortina games.
“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 brief statement. “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.”
Earlier this week, renewed debate about Russia’s potential participation in global tournaments made headlines after it was revealed that Russian hockey officials were meeting with members of the IIHF regarding their participation in the 2026 Olympics.
The last time that Russia’s hockey team competed in an IIHF sanctioned event was at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. There, they competed under the name “Russian Olympic Committee” for sanctioning purposes. Ultimately they would take home silver at the event after earning gold back in 2018 in Pyeongchang.
Russian athletes and teams have been sanctioned when it comes to international competitions since the inception of the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. However, a small number of Russian athletes were able to compete as “neutral” competitors during the 2024 Paris Olympics, which led to some believing the IOC may be softening its stance against the nation.
It would appears as though the governing bodies may grant exemptions for individual athletes, as is the case for Russian and Belarusian figure skaters attempting to qualify for the games, however they remain steadfast in their stance against team events for the time being.
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