ROME (Kashmir English): International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry has confirmed that Russian athletes must compete as individuals at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, regardless of any potential peace deal with Ukraine.
Russian and Belarusian athletes will participate in the Games as individuals, without national flags, anthems, or colours, following the ban initiated after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
International Olympic Committee ruling
Coventry told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that “at this stage, nothing would change” the IOC’s ruling for the games, which are scheduled for February 6–22, 2026.
As the first female president of the IOC, Coventry noted that Italy’s multi-city hosting approach represents the “new normality” and will serve as useful guidance for the future Olympic Games.
The IOC banned Russia and Belarus following the former’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the IOC ruled in September that Russians and Belarusians competing at Milano Cortina would do so as individual athletes, without a national flag or anthem. The Milano Cortina games run from February 6 to 22.
