By Gavin Kentch
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In a Tuesday meeting of the FIS Council, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, or FIS, voted against allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in events that would potentially qualify them for the 2026 Winter Olympics. For cross-country skiing, this is, at minimum, all races in Period 1 of the 2025/2026 World Cup season.
The statement from FIS, which you can find here, is laconic. It reads in full:
“The FIS Council convened this Tuesday and voted not to facilitate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in FIS qualification events for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games.
“The International Olympic Committee’s AIN regime has been set out as a possible pathway for athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in the Olympic Games, with each International Federation remaining responsible for the decision on whether to allow these athletes to take part in its existing qualification system.” (emphasis in original)
I published a lengthy explainer on Russian and Belarusian athletes and the Olympics two weeks ago, which you can find here:
Briefly put, there were, potentially, three official pathways for Russian participation at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The first two of these, results at 2025 World Championships or U23 Championships, were already not available, because Russia was not allowed to participate in FIS races at any level during the 2024/2025 season. The third of these, results in Period 1 of the 2025/2026 World Cup season, has now been foreclosed.
Because, per the IOC, “No new or additional qualification opportunities will be made available to any Individual Neutral Athlete,” Russian and Belarusian athletes will not have an opportunity to qualify for cross-country skiing events at the 2026 Games, even as neutral athletes.
Technically speaking, the FIS statement encompasses only “FIS qualification events for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games.” Because the Olympic qualifying window ends with “the first World Cup period 2025/2026,” per the IOC, the letter of the law here would allow Russian participation on the World Cup starting in Period 2, when the Tour de Ski kicks off in Italy in late December. Such a development may be against the spirit of the law (or who knows? maybe this was precisely the compromise necessary to get some nations on board with a Scandinavian bloc and force a “no” vote?), but I should acknowledge that possibility here.
Other nations react
TASS, a state-owned Russian news agency, had this quote from the Russian Ski Association, the Soviet version of USSS, earlier today:
“The Russian Ski Association expresses its profound disappointment by today’s decision of the FIS Council to go on with its ban for Russian athletes to take part in international competitions, even as individual neutral athletes. This decision continues the policy of discrimination against our athletes, which runs counter to the basic principle of political neutrality, enshrined by the FIS charter. The Russian Ski Association will continue to resolutely stand for equal and fair treatment of our athletes.”
Sentiments were less politic over at sports.ru, which led with an emoji in this auto-translated headline:
“😱 Our skiers won’t be going to the Olympics: Norwegians rejoice, Russia is going to court”
The article continued, “Apparently, the FIS wanted to bring Russia back (at least in a reduced composition), but they didn’t have the courage — the influence of the Scandinavians in skiing is too great. … The Norwegian Ski Federation has made its position clear from the outset, and today’s decision is a victory for all who distance themselves from Russia’s actions.”
It is certainly true that the Norwegian Ski Federation has long opposed Russian participation in the World Cup. “There is no doubt about where I stand on this matter,” federation president Tove Moe Dyrhaug told NRK in advance of today’s meeting. “We do not want the Russians back.”
NRK today surveys several big names who are applauding the decision by FIS. This statement, from one Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, is representative:
“I believe that this is the right decision. I believe, and have believed for a long time, that the Russians should not be allowed in as long as the war in Ukraine is ongoing. If the aggressive war is stopped, that is a different matter. But my point of view is that FIS has made the right decision.”
It has been no secret that FIS President Johan Eliasch has wished to see Russian athletes return to the World Cup. This has been apparent from his prior statements on the matter, some of them surveyed here, as well as his more recent action in sending all FIS members a letter apparently advocating for Russia’s return in advance of today’s vote.
Disclosure, this dynamic led me to sort of predict, earlier this month, and NRK columnist Jan Petter Saltvedt to affirmatively predict, yesterday, that FIS would admit Russian and Belarusian athletes in today’s meeting. This was incorrect.
I have no official statement to share from USSS on today’s decision. The most recent article on the USSS site, headlined “U.S. Ski & Snowboard Partners with the U.S. Army,” states that the Army is now “the official armed forces partner of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.” (It isn’t quite that random; the connection is the storied 10th Mountain Division, and its pioneering role in the U.S. snowsports industry. Insert your own perspective here on keeping politics out of sports.)
In lieu of a statement, I will share the inside-baseball take that today’s decision by FIS bears on the following language from USSS’s third selection criterion setting out the pathways for American cross-country skiers to qualify for the Olympics:
American athletes racing on the World Cup in Period 1 and 2 of this season (plus I guess also the first weekend of Period 3) will therefore be aiming for a top-45 discipline ranking on January 18, at the close of the races in Oberhof. Initial nominations for the U.S. Olympic team are due on January 20, with nominations for any reallocated quota spots coming three days later.
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