WASHINGTON, February 24. /TASS/. The Collective West is acting in a ‘petty and childish’ manner trying to "cancel" Russia including in sports and particularly the Olympic Games, US analyst and blogger Andrew Napolitano said in an interview with TASS on Tuesday.

"I condemn the cancel culture. I have often thought that athletics, particularly amateur athletics, should be devoid of politics. I thought that the Russians should have been able to compete in the Olympics that just concluded," the US analyst said.

"I think this is very petty and childish, probably in response to pressure from the Americans that keeps the Russians out," Napolitano said referring to the West’s discriminatory measures in regard to Russia.

"Particularly in the case of the Paralympics, when you consider what these young people have been through in order to get where they are, they ought to be given every opportunity to compete with their colleagues internationally," he continued.

"I'm going to guess that Trump, who's not an athlete himself, of course, and never was, but loves sports, agrees with that, but doesn't want to ruffle feathers," Napolitano added.

Napolitano holds a law degree. From 1987 to 1995, he served as a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court and subsequently taught law at several US colleges.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games took place in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from February 6-22, 2026. Thirteen Russian athletes competed under a neutral status in figure skating, speed skating, short track, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, luge, and ski mountaineering.

The 2026 Winter Paralympic Games will be held in Italy on March 6-15. Last week, President of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) Pavel Rozhkov told TASS that six Russian Para athletes had received bipartite invitations to the 2026 Winter Paralympics.

The invitations were extended to three-time Paralympic Champion in alpine skiing Aleksey Bugayev, two-time World Champion in alpine skiing Varvara Voronchikhina, multiple World Champion in para cross-country skiing Ivan Golubkov, World Championship medalist in para cross-country skiing Anastasia Bagiyan and her guide Sergey Sinyakin, and para snowboarders Dmitry Fadeyev and Philipp Shebbo.

The Russian Paralympians were allowed to compete at the upcoming Winter Paralympics under the national flag and to the tune of the country’s anthem.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been barred from international tournaments since early 2022. In December 2025, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that international federations allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in youth competitions with national symbols in both individual and team disciplines.