Winter Paralympics 2026: Germans protest against Russia during the medal ceremony

German cross-country skiers have turned their backs on Russian gold medalists on the podium at the Winter Paralympics in protest against the country’s inclusion in the Games.

For the first time since 2014, Russian athletes will compete under their country’s flag at the Paralympics after the International Paralympic Committee lifted its suspension of the country in September.

Russia and its athletes were banned following a state-sponsored doping scandal before further sanctions were imposed following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Anastasia Pagyan and her mentor Sergey Sinyakin won gold in the women’s visually impaired classic sprint, Russia’s second gold medal at the Olympics so far.

As the national anthem played, German Lynn Kazmaier and her guide Florian Baumann, silver medalists, turned their backs to the Russians.

Speaking to the German magazine Bild,, external “The medal ceremony seemed quite strange. I don’t know what it was,” Kazmaier said [Russians]I don’t know if they maybe support the regime in Russia as much as we do.

“Maybe they’re really nice people, and we can be friends with them. To have this completely overshadowed by politics is simply a complete disgrace.”

“That’s why we decided to hang up our hats and not move towards science, because we don’t support it.”