Russian athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina will not be able to represent their country, even if a peace agreement is reached with Ukraine, said International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry in an interview with an Italian newspaper, writes UNN with reference to Reuters.
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At this stage, nothing will change the IOC's decision, which allows Russian athletes to participate in the February Games only as individual athletes representing themselves, Coventry told Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Friday.
The IOC banned Russia and Belarus from competing after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and in September, the IOC ruled that Russians and Belarusians competing in Milan Cortina would be able to do so as individual athletes, without a national flag or anthem.
In other remarks, Coventry - the first female IOC president - said that holding the Olympics in multiple cities, as Italy is doing, would become the "new normal," and the Milan-Cortina Games would provide useful advice for the future.
The IOC did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for confirmation of Coventry's comments.
The Milan Cortina Games will run from February 6 to 22.