MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. The Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR) has submitted to the International Skating Union (ISU) a list of national athletes selected for the qualifying tournament of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, a source in the FSFR told TASS on Friday.
"The list has been submitted to the ISU," the source said.
On December 20, 2024, the ISU Council announced a decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus competing at the 2026 Olympics qualifying tournament under a neutral status.
The FSFR was told that it could not put more than one entrant on its list of candidates for each figure skating discipline, most notably the men's and women's individual events, pairs and ice dancing.
Moreover, in order to be cleared for the Olympic qualifiers the ISU will inquire into athletes’ possible affiliation with Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and their possible connections with military and security bodies.
The deadline for the FSFR to submit its list of figure skaters for the Olympic qualifiers was February 28.
Commenting on the news, renowned Russian figure skating coach Tatiana Tarasova told TASS, that the ISU never set a deadline to deliberate on the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympics qualifiers.
"I have never said that their response should be awaited by this summer," Tarasova stated. "We will see when the response comes, but at the moment there are no clear-cut dates."
Italian cities Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo will host the 2026 Winter Olympics. The qualifying figure skating tournament for the 2026 Winter Games will be hosted by the Chinese capital of Beijing between September 17 and 21.
Russia’s Figure Skating global stance
On March 1, 2022, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced a decision to provisionally suspend all athletes from Russia and Belarus. The suspension includes figure skating, speed skating and short-track speed skating competitions.
At its session on January 25, 2023, the IOC Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Athletes from the countries in question should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to prohibit athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.
On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.