Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) can participate in the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, even if they were not present at the opening. This refers to Russia and Belarus. This was reported by the BBC, according to UNN.
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"Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) will be able to attend the closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics if they were not present at the opening. Athletes whose countries are not allowed to participate in the Games – such as Russia and Belarus due to the invasion of Ukraine – competed at the 2026 Olympics as neutral athletes," the publication writes.
According to preliminary information, they are prohibited from wearing national colors or displaying their country's flag, and they do not appear in the official medal table.
"And they were not represented in the parade of nations at either the opening ceremony at the San Siro stadium in Milan, or at simultaneous events in Cortina and Livigno. However, at the closing ceremony, athletes are traditionally not separated by country, but instead enter the stadium in Verona as a group, meaning that AIN participants can be present. In Milan-Cortina, only one neutral athlete won a medal – Nikita Filippov, who won silver in men's ski mountaineering," the publication writes.
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