MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Russia will fight to secure its participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"As for the [Russian national] team athletes [at the 2026 Olympics], we continue to communicate with the IOC (International Olympic Committee - TASS) and we will continue to do so. We will defend the interests of our athletes and our Olympic team. Settling this issue will require additional time and effort," the Russian presidential spokesman said.
According to Peskov, some sports federations "have already decided or are close to deciding to allow individual athletes to take part in Olympic events or the Olympic cycle." "That is good news," he emphasized.
Earlier, Britain’s Johan Eliasch, one of the seven candidates vying for president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), suggested at an IOC session in Lausanne that, in Italy, snow sports federations could follow the precedent set for Russian athletes at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments as neutrals, assuming they don’t have any link to their countries’ militaries or participate in international team events. Fifteen Russian athletes competed in last year’s Paris Summer Olympics.
The next Winter Olympic Games will be held in Italy’s Milano Cortina on February 6-26, 2026.