Certain Russian and Belarusian athletes will have the chance to compete under a neutral flag at the Olympic Games in Milano/Cortina 2026. But for the biathletes, the door is closed.
The International Biathlon Union, IBU, announces that no active athletes will be allowed to compete under a neutral flag at the Olympic Games – and thus there will be no place for either Russian or Belarusian biathletes.
The reason is that only those who are already approved to compete in IBU's own competitions, such as the World Cup, can qualify for the Olympic Games. Since athletes from Russia and Belarus have been suspended since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they are excluded.
”In IBU's competition rules, there is no room for neutral athletes”, the union writes in a statement.
