The athletes, who compete under the title “Individual Neutral Athletes" or AINs, have competed in previous Olympics under the neutral flag. Including at the Paris Games when 15 neutral Russians and 17 neutral Belarusians accepted an invitation to the Summer Games.
But this week, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) voted against allowing neutral athletes to participate in any FIS qualification event for the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics.
That means no Russian or Belarusian skier or snowboarder will take part in the Games in February.
In September, the International Olympic Committee announced any AIN who qualified through the existing qualification systems would be able to compete in Italy.
But the IOC ultimately left the decision up to the governing bodies of each sport, like FIS, on whether to allow athletes to compete at qualification events.
Two Russian figure skaters have secured spots at the Winter Games and will compete under the neutral flag.
Athletes from Russia have been banned from competing under their nation’s flag since 2017 after being accused of doping. Belarus athletes joined the Russians as neutral athletes in 2024 because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
