Russian Skaters Allowed to Compete as Neutrals (AIN) to Qualify for 2026 Winter Olympics

[Sylvia]

AFP article (Dec. 20, 2024): https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024...te-as-neutrals-in-2026-winter-olympics-a87417

Only one neutral athlete, including one pair in pairs skating and one couple in ice dancing, from Russia and its ally Belarus will be eligible to participate per event in designated qualifying events for the 2026 Games with no relay or team participation, the ISU added.
At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Russian athletes had to compete under the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) flag due to a two-year ban imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency for state-sponsored doping.
Russia's Sports Minister and head of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev welcomed the ISU decision.
"The process of a full return to international sport will be difficult, but events such as the ISU decision... are important steps on this path," Degtyarev was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency. "This is better than a permanent break and isolation. We will continue to develop this pathway."

ISU decision concerning the participation of limited number of Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) at Olympic Qualification Events under strict conditions (Dec. 20): https://www.isu.org/news/isu-decisi...qualification-events-under-strict-conditions/

Excerpts:

Today, the International Skating Union (ISU) announces a pathway to allow a limited number of Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) to participate under strict conditions in designated Olympic Qualifying Events for the 2025/26 season. This decision applies to Figure Skating, Speed Skating, and Short Track Speed Skating disciplines under the Olympic Qualification System (OQS) for Milano Cortina 2026.

Recognizing that competing in the Olympic Winter Games is the pinnacle of any skater’s career, the ISU has carefully examined the feasibility of implementing the IOC’s recommendations on creating a pathway to facilitate the participation of athletes affiliated with ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

[...]

Following thorough deliberations, the ISU has decided to adapt the implementation of ISU Communication 2469. The new participation conditions will only apply to the below designated competitions forming part of the OQS and will not apply to ISU competitions and Championships in general.

Designated competitions
Only one neutral athlete (including one pair in Pair Skating and one couple in Ice Dance) from the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and only one neutral athlete (including one pair for Pair Skating and one couple for Ice Dance) from the Skating Union of Belarus may be eligible to participate per event in designated OQS competitions, with no relay or team participation.

The participation is limited to the following provisionally allotted competitions:
Figure Skating:

• ISU Figure Skating Olympic Qualifying Competition – September 17-21, 2025 – Beijing, China [...]

Protective measures and conditions
The following protective measures remain valid and the following strict conditions will apply:

• A strict and comprehensive Focused Olympic Anti-Doping Program will be put in place.
• Athletes and their Support Personnel will undergo careful examination of public statements and appearances to see if individuals may have supported the invasion of Ukraine.
• Athletes and their Support Personnel shall not be contractually linked with the Russian or Belarusian military or with any other national security agency.
• Full compliance with all ISU Statutes, including the ISU Code of Ethics.
• Absence of flags, anthems and all other representations or references to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus at the designated OQS.
• If a Nominated Athlete breaches the Eligibility Criteria or other conditions of AIN participation, the ISU Council may withdraw the status of AIN and/or their Support Personnel. No substitution will be allowed.
• No ISU Events and International Competitions shall be held in the territories of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
• The new conditions do not apply to Officials, who remain banned from ISU competitions and the designated OQS competitions.

Continued support for Ukraine
Throughout, the ISU has maintained its condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine. The ISU also continues to provide financial support to Ukrainian skaters in several ways:

• A support package for Ukrainian skaters through the ISU Development Program
• A significant contribution for the Ukrainian Skating Federations and its members made available by ISU
• A support program for displaced Ukrainian skaters

Further details may be found in ISU Communication 2680 [link below]. A Q&A [link] is also available to address specific questions in relation to the topic.

ISU Communication 2680 - On the access to qualification events for Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in ISU sports for participation at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 (10 pages): https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.az...Communication2680039609800_17346849641740.pdf

ETA:

4. Eligibility Criteria
[...]
b. Nominated Athletes by the FSFR or RSU must have held the Russian passport prior to the
date of adoption of the Council emergency decision of March 1, 2022. Nominated Athletes by
the BLR must also have held the Belarusian passport prior to March 1, 2022.

5. Figure Skating
[...]
d. There is no consideration of AIN for participation in the OWG 2026 Figure Skating Team Event.

 

[Karen-W]

Re-posting from the general Milano-Cortina qualifying thread where most of this discussion since the news broke has been taking place...

From the Q&A -

Will AINs be able to participate in ISU events other than Olympic Qualification events?
• No. In order to seek qualification for the OWG 2026, AIN will only be able to participate in the designated Figure Skating Qualification Competition, or the Qualification Competitions outlined in the Olympic Qualification System documents in Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating.

How does it work for substitutes?
• One Substitute per AIN is allowed in case of illness or injury prior to the start of the Olympic Qualification System (“OQS”) competitions. The Substitute may only participate in OQS events and cannot replace a Nominated Athlete injured after the conclusion of the OQS events.
• The Substitutes are subject to the same Focused Olympic Anti-Doping Program and special screening as are the Nominated Athletes. Only those that are declared eligible after having passed the Anti-Doping program and special screening may act as Substitutes.
• The AINs or, in case of injury, their Substitutes, are allowed to participate in the Figure Skating Olympic Qualifying Competition during the Season 2025/26 to compete for Quota Places and possible qualification for the OWG 2026. In case of injury of a Nominated Athlete before the set deadline, and in accordance with the general rules for substitution, their Substitute, if qualified, will fill the respective quota place for the OWG 2026.
• There is no substitution for AIN who did not fulfill the Eligibility Criteria or for AIN who, after fulfillment, were excluded from participation if they violate any of the Eligibility Criteria or other ISU Statutes or Rules.

What is the timing for the inclusion of AIN?
• By latest February 28 2025, the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, Russian Skating Union and Belarusian Skating Union/Belarusian National Olympic Committee will be able to nominate to the ISU one Athlete and one substitute (in case of injury prior to qualification) per individual event in Figure Skating/Speed Skating/Short Track Speed Skating, one pair for Pair Skating and one couple for Ice Dance who can participate as AINs.
• A special screening, conducted with the support of specialist external contractors, will ensure that the Nominated Athletes and Substitutes who will be accepted as AINs have neither publicly supported nor are publicly supporting the invasion of Ukraine and are not linked to Russian/Belarusian military or security agencies.
• Nominated Athletes and Substitutes will be subject to the Focused Olympic Anti-Doping Program with targeted testing, thorough investigations and close monitoring of their athlete biological passport and their whereabouts prior to the competition that will take months to implement.
• Only when athletes have passed these tests successfully will they be able to compete.

How will you make sure that the Nominated Athletes are neutral if they are nominated by the National Federations?
• A special screening, conducted with the support of specialist external contractors, will ensure that no athlete has publicly supporting the invasion of Ukraine or are linked to Russian/Belarusian military or security agencies.
• Anyone having any information regarding any specific athlete that they wish to report in the context of this screening will have the possibility to anonymously report it.
• Athletes will be ineligible on the basis of any pro-invasion actions, such as public statements, social media posts, participation in demonstrations, or displaying symbols like the "Z".

Soooooo, people better get to screenshotting any social media posts of any likely skaters/teams ASAP and make sure they have any support of the war documented to report. Also, any skaters who train at skating schools linked to the Russian military need to be documented.

Basically - Russia & Belarus can nominate ONE skater/team as their designated AIN and one additional skater/team as the substitute by Feb 25, 2025 - and they better vet them carefully because if they fail the external ISU vetting process, they cannot be replaced.

I'd be very surprised if Russia failed at securing Olympic spots in each discipline. Send Mishina/Galliamov, Petrosian, Kondratiuk and Stepanova/Bukin and the thing is settled.

Don't they have to only send people who haven't ever publically supported the war? I'm sure they can still field a strong group, but some of those definitely might not count.

Yes, they cannot send any skaters in who do not meet the AIN criteria. There is no way that Mishina/Galliamov or Kondratiuk will pass any external review of their social media posts since the start of the war. I can't recall if Stepanova/Bukin were at any pro-war rallies or expressed any overt support for the war.

Boikova/Kozlovskii are clear, as far as I can recall they pretty much refrained from ANY support of the war at all. Petrosian probably would also be fine seeing as she's younger, but if she posted anything a few years ago, just because that was the thing everyone around her was doing, she may be in trouble.

Additionally, any skaters who train at Russian Army-affiliated sports schools are going to be out.

Stepanova/Bukin certainly should not clear the AIN review -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1870055926415212740

If this provision is serious at least. Some of the “neutral” athletes who have been allowed to compete in other sports have been a joke from what I understand.

Hopefully the ISU will be as strict as FIG was for the Summer games. There were no Russian athletes able to qualify for any of the gymnastics events, and the Belarussians only qualified for trampoline.

Honestly, it might be easier for Belarus to qualify provided they still have skaters who would be able to compete.

The cynic in me thinks that all that Step/Bukin, Kondratiuk, and any others would need to do is claim they've seen the error of their ways and no longer support the war to be cleared to compete.

Skating, esp Women, has been so much fun to watch the past couple of seasons, sigh...

IF -- big if -- the ISU sticks to the rules, it could be entertaining to watch Russia scrambling to find skaters who meet the criteria. That's the only good thing about this mess.

TSL tweeted the following - good time to ask questions, even if Maya doesn't have all the answers...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1870129951267025060

 

[caseyedwards]

False. Russian skaters who have publicly supported the overthrow of Putin and who condemned Russia army and veterans can seek to qualify .

 

[tony]

Pulling from the Olympic qualification thread-

The funny thing is, does a skater want to be publicly designated as a wuss who didn’t support Putin and the war? Kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

That's exactly where I don't understand how this is going to work out. At all. Russian politics obviously has a tie to sports, and you really think Putin is going to rah rah someone into the Olympics who has said nothing or has maybe given hints of speaking out against him?

 

[MsZem]

Does Tuktamysheva count as neutral? This may be her big chance

 

[Theatregirl1122]

In another thread I thought I saw someone say that athletes have to have no association with the doping programs. It says they will have to pass anti doping controls, but it doesn't seem to me like anything in the wording suggests that Eteri skaters, for example, would be DQed unless they actually fail a test.

 

[Karen-W]

Does Tuktamysheva count as neutral? This may be her big chance

The only negative I can see for her is skating in that Plushenko show in Tula that turned into a huge pro-war rally - and that decision was sprung on the skaters mere hours before the show started. She (and BoiKoz) were notable in expressing immediately afterward that they had no idea it was going to turn into a pro-war rally and all three have carefully avoided any support for the war since the very beginning.

I actually think she'd be the best option for the women - she's a known quantity to international judges and most western fans feel like she was the biggest loser of the entire Valieva doping fiasco.

 

[skipaway]

Will they be able to field a team for the team event?

 

[Karen-W]

In another thread I thought I saw someone say that athletes have to have no association with the doping programs. It says they will have to pass anti doping controls, but it doesn't seem to me like anything in the wording suggests that Eteri skaters, for example, would be DQed unless they actually fail a test.

I think that's going to be directed more at the Support Personnel - not having any skaters who've been banned for doping, etc. Other skaters, as long as they're clean & they haven't trained with a banned athlete since the imposition of the ban, are probably going to be okay.

I do think that perhaps Galliamov, with his explicit, obvious support of Valieva & snotty remarks about the lack of a medal yet, may find himself ineligible.

 

[tony]

Will they be able to field a team for the team event?

No, because they wouldn't have the World Standing points to be within the top 10 teams.

Unless, of course, they manage to qualify four (or even three of the four) disciplines and they are given a special pass.

 

[Karen-W]

Will they be able to field a team for the team event?

No, not at this time. The announcement, AIN document & Q&A are very clear - no team event participation (not just for FS but also the speed skating & short-track team relay events are not allowed).

That could change, though, if the ban is lifted before the Olympics.

 

[caseyedwards]

The thread title is so misleading!!

 

[Karen-W]

No, because they wouldn't have the World Standing points to be within the top 10 teams.

Unless, of course, they manage to qualify four (or even three of the four) disciplines and they are given a special pass.

Wellllllll... I'm not sure there will be 10 countries that qualify in 3 disciplines. If, somehow, the ban is lifted next summer & they are able to accrue some points via the JGP (or get some skaters into a GP or two with Challenger wins moving them onto and to the top of the Alternates List like we saw with Ahsun Yun winning Nepela Memorial), it's entirely possible that Russia could qualify for the TE even without having competed at Worlds this season.

 

[tony]

Wellllllll... I'm not sure there will be 10 countries that qualify in 3 disciplines. If, somehow, the ban is lifted next summer & they are able to accrue some points via the JGP (or get some skaters into a GP or two with Challenger wins moving them onto and to the top of the Alternates List like we saw with Ahsun Yun winning Nepela Memorial), it's entirely possible that Russia could qualify for the TE even without having competed at Worlds this season.

That's a big if that requires the ban to be lifted. As it stands now, they wouldn't get in because they wouldn't get points to get in.

 

[caseyedwards]

The only negative I can see for her is skating in that Plushenko show in Tula that turned into a huge pro-war rally - and that decision was sprung on the skaters mere hours before the show started. She (and BoiKoz) were notable in expressing immediately afterward that they had no idea it was going to turn into a pro-war rally and all three have carefully avoided any support for the war since the very beginning.

I actually think she'd be the best option for the women - she's a known quantity to international judges and most western fans feel like she was the biggest loser of the entire Valieva doping fiasco.

The very first line of the isu press release says all public appearances will be checked. That immediately rules 99% of Russian skaters out as almost all of them have skated where a member of Russian military has been present.

So what Russian skater hasn’t lived in Russia, participated in Russian nationals, attacked the Military of Russia and supported the overthrow of Putin the past 3 years? They would maybe qualify.

 

[Karen-W]

That's a big if that requires the ban to be lifted. As it stands now, they wouldn't get in because they wouldn't get points to get in.

Oh, definitely!

I've got a table projecting the TE points based on this fall's JGP & GP season (yes, I know points don't really begin accruing until after Worlds, lol), and also projecting which countries are likely to earn entries in at least 2 disciplines with the possibility of using a quota space for the 3rd discipline. I think it will be hard because Worlds (with Euros/4CCs and Jr Worlds as backup options for points) earns the bulk of points and makes it almost impossible to catch up.

My thought process is that, should the ban be lifted, Russia's probably only going to get in because so many countries ahead of them on points won't have entries in at least 2 disciplines.

 

[Marta24]

According to section 5 of the ISU Communication, AIN will not be considered for the Team event.

 

[Debbie S]

Tuk might be the only Russian skater I wouldn't mind seeing at the Olys. A kind of revenge against Eteri. The rest can stay home.

 

[Karen-W]

What pairs are currently coached by Moskvina, besides M/G? What men are coached by Mishin?

Kadyrova/Mironov are Moskvina's other team. They finished a distant 6th earlier today.

Gumennik & Ugozhaev are the two men also at Moskvina's school.

Mishin skaters are Lutfullin, Dikidzhi, & Semenenko, I think...

 

[skateboy]

AFP article (Dec. 20, 2024): https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024...te-as-neutrals-in-2026-winter-olympics-a87417

ISU decision concerning the participation of limited number of Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) at Olympic Qualification Events under strict conditions (Dec. 20): https://www.isu.org/news/isu-decisi...qualification-events-under-strict-conditions/

This is good. Russian skaters aren't Putin, and they need to be in the sport.

 

[caseyedwards]

Tuk might be the only Russian skater I wouldn't mind seeing at the Olys. A kind of revenge against Eteri. The rest can stay home.

She is completely disqualified. She was in a Z rally and was at 2022 Russian nationals. That’s two strikes! The only Russian skater who could qualify is one who hasn’t been at a Russian nationals since December 2021

All the Russian nationals since 2022 have been pro war events

 

[Wyliefan]

Lots of them have supported Putin in his genocidal war, and they do not need to be in the sport.

 

[Evgeniafan]

She is completely disqualified. She was in a Z rally and was at 2022 Russian nationals. That’s two strikes! The only Russian skater who could qualify is one who hasn’t been at a Russian nationals since December 2021

All the Russian nationals since 2022 have been pro war events

If Evgenia had her jumps back, maybe she could go.

 

[Hedwig]

Tuk might be the only Russian skater I wouldn't mind seeing at the Olys. A kind of revenge against Eteri. The rest can stay home.

Forever if it were going according to me. I do not want to see any Russian skater ever again.

 

[caseyedwards]

If Evgenia had her jumps back, maybe she could go.

She could be disqualified for working for a pro war broadcaster in Russia.

 

[care bear]

Forever if it were going according to me. I do not want to see any Russian skater ever again.

Same here. They should stay banned. ISU uphold the ban.

 

[Evgeniafan]

She could be disqualified for working for a pro war broadcaster in Russia.

Then Anna and Alina would be out, too. So who can go?

 

[caseyedwards]

Then Anna and Alina would be out, too. So who can go?

It’s very likely even on this forum no one will know their names! It’s not worth discussing anyone who is known. Like who was 15th in 2019? Who failed to qualify in 2022 for Russian nationals? And who has no social media or lives in America

 

[PRlady]

If the ISU is strict about pro-war activity, Russia will just have to annex foreign skaters with Russian coaches or ancestry. Maybe Isabeau, Sophie VF, Torgy, Wolf/Tsar, Lobocheva, Memola, Efimova et al should expect a call.

Russia likes to annex stuff.

 

[Evgeniafan]

It’s very likely even on this forum no one will know their names! It’s not worth discussing anyone who is known. Like who was 15th in 2019? Who failed to qualify in 2022 for Russian nationals? And who has no social media or lives in America

I got one. Serafima Sakhanovich.