A little over two years before the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games, the question of the participation of Russian athletes remains marked by a huge question mark. But the country's sports authorities are already letting it be understood: skiers will not agree to go to Italy with the status of neutral athletes, just like in the other international competitions of the Olympiad. Yelena Vyalbe, the president of the Russian Cross-Country Ski Federation (CCSFR), told national media this week, on the sidelines of a competition in Kazan: “ We will only return to international competitions as Russians. Everything else is unacceptable. » As a reminder, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) banned Russian athletes in the spring of 2022, after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. Their suspension is still in effect. Last October, Norwegian Erik Roeste, a member of the FIS board of directors, told the television channel NRK that sanctions against Russian athletes would remain in place for the 2023/24 season.
