Sport court allows Russian, Belarusian skiers to target Olympics

Teranova Aleksandrovna waves a pair of Russian flags while she waits for the second run of the women's slalom at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Tuesday opened the way for Russian and Belarusian skiers to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics by overturning a ban imposed by the top skiing body.

CAS said in a statement that “Russian and Belarusian athletes who meet the International Olympic Committee AIN (Individual Neutral Athletes) eligibility criteria should be allowed to participate” in qualification events organized by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).

Russia welcomed the ruling. Its Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev noted “it is important that this is the third court decision in favour of Russia in winter Olympic sports,” referring to other decisions affecting bobsleigh and luge.

FIS had announced in October that it was banning athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing in its qualification events for next year’s Winter Games in Milan-Cortina.

Competitors in skiing and snowboarding from the two countries have been banned from FIS events since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but they had hoped to participate under a neutral banner in the Games, which run from Feb. 6 to 22, 2026.

The International Olympic Committee had announced in September that athletes from Russia and Belarus would be allowed to compete at the Olympics under a neutral banner if they meet strict conditions.

During the 2022 Games in Beijing, Russia won almost a third of all cross-country skiing medals, although they failed to win a single medal in alpine skiing.

FIS’s move to ban Russians and Belarusians followed in the footsteps of similar attempts by the governing bodies of biathlon and luge, although authorities from the sport of ice skating decided to give athletes from the two nations the chance to qualify.

But in the ruling on Tuesday, CAS upheld two appeals -- one each by the the Russian and Belarusian skiing federations -- on the grounds that the FIS statutes “protect individuals from discrimination and require the FIS to be politically neutral.”