2026 Paralympics: Russian and Belarusian athletes will not attend the Winter Games

Russian and Belarusian paraathletes will not attend the 2026 Winter Paralympics, despite the International Paralympic Committee lifting its ban on them.

Although the IPC oversees the Games, there are four separate governing bodies responsible for the six sports, which are held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Three of the governing bodies decided to maintain their bans on athletes from both countries, and although Russia and Belarus are now eligible to compete in ice hockey, the decision came too late for them to take part in the qualifiers.

Both countries were banned from Paralympic competition following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus a close Russian ally.

A partial ban – allowing athletes to compete as neutrals – was introduced in 2023.

IPC members then voted to lift the two countries’ suspensions at a meeting last month, allowing paraathletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flags.

However, the four international federations have now told the IPC “that there is virtually no chance of athletes from either nation qualifying for the Games in March”.

The International Skiing and Snowboarding Federation (FIS), the International Biathlon Union (IBU) and World Curling have not lifted their bans, while the World Ice Para Hockey has already decided which countries will enter the qualification tournament for the two remaining places at the Games.

“In the same way that the IPC fully respects the decision of the IPC General Assembly not to uphold the partial suspensions of the NPC of Belarus and the NPC of Russia, we also fully respect the decisions of each international federation regarding the sports they govern,” said IPC President Andrew Parsons.

“The positions of the FIS, IBU and World Curling currently mean that athletes and teams from Belarus and Russia cannot compete in their events, making it impossible for them to qualify for the Milan Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.”

“While Belarus and Russia can now compete in Paralympic ice hockey events, at this late stage in the qualification cycle the six teams for the Paralympic qualification tournament in November have already been determined.

“I hope that the focus will now be very much on the outstanding athletes and NPCs who will be competing at Milan Cortina 2026 next March, as well as the huge transformational legacies that the Paralympic Winter Games will create.”