MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. The International Skating Union (ISU) has confirmed that it received the Russian and Belarusian rosters for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games qualifying competitions, the ISU’s press office said in a statement to TASS on Friday.
A source in the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR) told TASS earlier in the day that the country’s figure skating body submitted to the ISU a list of national athletes selected for the qualifying tournament of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
"The ISU has received the nominations for Russian and Belarusian athletes seeking to participate as Independent Neutral Athletes (AIN) in designated Olympic Qualifying Events for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games," the statement reads.
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, as well as the pairs and ice dancing events .
The deadline for the FSFR to submit its list of figure skaters for the Olympic qualifiers was February 28.
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.
"According to the provisions set out in ISU Communication No. 2680, the nominated Skaters will now be subject to a special screening process and Focused Olympic Anti-Doping Program undertaken by specialist independent providers, to ensure their neutrality under the terms set out in the ISU Communication. The ISU will not comment on any individual Skaters until the completion of this special screening," the ISU’s press office added.
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.