Winter Paralympics 2026: The decision to invite Russian and Belarusian athletes is “not easy”

Dual committee invitations are given to individual athletes, rather than their respective international federation, and allow the participation of top athletes “who may not have had the opportunity to qualify through other routes due to exceptional circumstances”, among other factors.

The IPC, with the support of international federations – in this case the FIS – decides who will get the dual slots after receiving recommendations from the federation.

Ukraine also gained dual slots in three sports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian Sports Minister Matvey Bedny said the decision to award two seats to Russia and Belarus was “disappointing and infuriating.”

In a statement on X, Bednyi said: “There is no place for the flags of Russia and Belarus at international sporting events that symbolize justice, integrity and respect.

“These are leaders of regimes that have turned sports into a tool of war, lies and contempt.”

Eliash added: “It is difficult, and in our case in the end, the courts decided the outcome.

“Everything is done by the book. We have strict screening plans in place for people who participate to ensure they have no affiliation with the military, and it is important that we maintain that.”

British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said awarding dual places to Russian and Belarusian athletes was “absolutely the wrong decision”, while the British Paralympic Association said in a statement on Wednesday it was the “wrong approach”.

“British Paralympics has consistently supported the decision to suspend the NPC in Russia and the NPC in Belarus, but members of the International Paralympic Committee have recently taken the decision to reinstate them and we must acknowledge that decision,” she said.

“We have made it clear all along that we believe this is the wrong approach and the ban should have remained in place given the ongoing war in Ukraine. We continue to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine and our friends in the National People’s Congress of Ukraine.”

In response to Nandy, the IPC said: “The IPC is a democratic organisation, and the IPC member organizations have taken the decision to lift the partial suspension of the National Paralympic Committee Belarus and Russia at the 2025 General Assembly.”

“At this meeting approximately 180 of the 211 IPC members attended and voted on this issue. We have to respect the decision of our members who come from all over the world.”

Among the athletes scheduled to compete are Alexei Bugaev, a three-time Paralympic champion in alpine skiing, and cross-country skiers Ivan Golubkov and Anastasia Bagyan – both world championship medalists, Russian news agency TASS reported.

All three returned to competition in January, and since then both Bogaev and Bagyan have won World Cup titles.