Russians, Belarusians allowed to compete under own flags at 2026 Paralympics: IPC tells AFP

Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete under their own national flags at the 2026 Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, the Games’ governing body confirmed to AFP on Tuesday.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) told AFP the athletes would be “treated like (those from) any other country”.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned from competing under their own flags since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The IPC unexpectedly lifted its suspension on Russian and Belarusian athletes at the organisation’s general assembly in September.

The partial suspension, which allowed athletes only to compete as neutrals, was put in place in 2023 in place of a complete ban enacted after Russia’s invasion in 2022.

Athletes from both nations have been permitted to accumulate ranking points since Russia and Belarus won an appeal against the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in December.

The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) has been awarded six wildcards for the upcoming games, receiving places in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding.

The participants have already been determined, with the RPC announcing three-time alpine skiing gold medallist Alexey Bugaev among the athletes taking part.

Russia was awarded two slots in alpine skiing, two in cross-country skiing and two in snowboarding.

The four Belarusian slots are all in cross-country skiing. Male and female athletes from both nations will be taking part.