As in many other sports, Russian and Belarusian biathletes have been suspended from international competitions since Russia began its war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022.
On Wednesday, Russia filed an appeal against the suspension with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
Following the skis
"The Russian Biathlon Federation will today appeal to CAS. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROK) is providing all necessary support," said Sports Minister and ROK President Mikhail Degtyarev, according to Russian Sport-Express.
The International Biathlon Union (IBU) confirms the matter. It states that the ROK is behind the appeal together with the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) and eight unnamed Russian biathletes and para-biathletes.
Several sports have let Russia into the heat just in time for the Olympics in Italy in February, such as figure skating, ice skating and ski mountaineering.
The biathlon door has been closed, but the Russian Federation sees an opening. This after CAS forced the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (Fis) to welcome back Russians and Belarusians. Fis decided last fall to uphold its suspension, but Russia appealed to CAS, which overturned the Fis decision.
Tight on time
For example, this means that two Russian cross-country skiers – who, among other things, have also met the requirement of not having actively supported the war – can compete in this weekend's World Cup competitions in Davos.
In its assessment, CAS highlighted FIS' own statutes, which emphasize that the federation should be "politically neutral." According to the arbitration court, this is against suspending athletes solely based on nationality.
However, the IBU has said that only skaters who are already approved to compete in IBU competitions – such as the World Cup – can qualify for the Olympics.
And the Russian appeal to Cas has not changed anything.
"The IBU stands by the democratically made decision of the IBU Congress to suspend RBU and its practitioners, which was taken on strong legal grounds. The IBU also reiterates that the competition rules and the IBU statutes do not allow for a path for neutral practitioners," the IBU writes.
Even if CAS follows Russia's line, it is unclear whether the country's biathletes will have time to qualify for the Olympics.
