With a little less than a year until the winter Olympic Games in Italy, Russia’s hope of fighting in snow and ice on the world’s largest sports stage seems to melt day by day.
Unless peace quickly reaches Ukraine and the International Olympic Committee and Moscow suddenly repaired their long -standing relationship, Russian athletes could be largely frozen from their second consecutive Olympic Games.
“With only one year for the end, we are seeing a similar situation in Paris,” said David Wallechinsky, former president of the International Society of Olympic historians. “You don’t know 100%, but I would say there is a strong probability that Russia does not compete … as an independent country” in the 2026 winter games.
Russia was largely absent from Paris last summer, with just a handful of her athletes who described as neutral. The only medal he won was in the female double tennis, in which Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider captured the silver.
Russia’s potential prohibition of Milano Cortina 2026 could be even more dramatic with the NHL superstars being marginalized and the best figurative skaters may sit.
Shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of 1991, Russian athletes competed as part of the “unified team” in 1992 in Albertville, France, with the Soviet republics still together for the games. But since 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, Russian winter athletes have competed as the Russian Federation (2014, 2010, 2006, 2002, 1998, 1994), the Russian Olympic Committee, or “Roc” (2022) and the Olympic athletes of Russia, or “OAR” (2018).
The last two nicknames were used after the world anti -doping agency discovered that Russia had been executing doping schemes sponsored by the State.
The Russian athletes competing under their flag won 120 winter medals (46 gold, 39 silver, 35 bronze) since 1994, the sixth most of any country.
Russian athletes have won 49 medals under the nicknames Roc or Oar, which, if added to the totals of “Russia”, would put that group at a surprising distance from winter powers in the United States and Canada.
“Sport is super important to Russia. It is very important internally, because Russia generally has very strong teams in international sports competitions, so it tends to validate the power of Russia for the Russian population, “said Thomas J. Kent, who teaches international issues at Columbia University, with An experience in Russian propaganda and misinformation.
“And it is really the same internationally. He tells the world that Russia is an intelligent and powerful country with excellent athletes and is a force to take into account. ”
Russia’s team has absolutely dominated artistic skating in recent years, capturing 14 gold, nine silver and three bronze medals since 1994. That 26 medals count, which exceed the United States and Canada, does not even include six trips of podium for ROC and three for rowing skaters.
Despite the current prohibition against the Olympic Committees of Russia and nearby ally of Belarus, individual world sports federations could allow some Russians to compete as “neutral athletes” without any visible link with their country.
The World Figure Skating Government Body, the International Skating Union, has asked Russia to present a list of names before February 28 to consider competing as neutral in 2026, authorities said.
“We know some [sports] The federations have already made a decision or are close to making a decision that provides an opportunity for our athletes, at least for our individual athletes, participate in Olympic competitions, in the Olympic cycle, “said Kremlin press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. “This is good news.”
Russia wants your athletes to be in Italy, even if that would mean doing it without a Russian flag.
“We consider unfair restrictions and we strive to a complete uprising of them so that our athletes can compete under the national flag. However, we do not refuse to participate even in current conditions,” said the president of the Olympic Committee of Russia, Mikhail Degtyarev. “We continue the dialogue with the international community to expand opportunities for Russian athletes, and the restoration of the ROC state, which we are sure that it will happen in the predictable future, it will accelerate this process.”
Russian players, competing under the rowing banner, won gold in male ice hockey in 2018 and could present a team full of stars in 2026.
A possible Russian team would include the Extraordinary Nikita Kucherov Game Creator of Tampa Bay Lightning and the goals of all time No. 2, Alexander Ovechkin, of Washington’s capitals in advance.
Russia would be ashamed of the wealth of goal with Andrei Vasilevskiy of The Lightning, Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers and Ilya Sorokin of the New York islanders competing for time.
Degtyarev said without surroundings that no hockey team could be correctly considered a world champion without playing Russia.
“ROC is actively working to restore the state and admit Russian athletes to the 2026 Olympic Games,” said Degtyarev. “Of course, our colleagues should be interested in a positive result, because no serious hockey tournament without Russians can be considered truly competitive.”
Moscow desperately wants to show its powerful hockey team in Italy.
The president of the Russian Hockey Federation, Vladislav Tretiak, came to call the action of the IOC against its players an offensive of its “human rights”, in a particularly huge criticism, given the butcher shop of the invasion of Russia of Ukraine and the Death of more than 12,000 Ukrainian citizens, according to a United Nations report issued last month.
“This is a violation of the rights of hockey players; This is a violation of human rights, “said Tretiak, who is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the history of hockey.” Well, we will continue defending our position, defending the interests of our boys, our hockey, our Russian sport. “
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a few days after Beijing’s winter games came to an end. China denied a New York Times report at the time Beijing asked Moscow to delay the attack against Ukraine until after the closing ceremonies.
At that time, Russian President Vladimir Putin surely had the idea that his invasion would probably have a terrible impact on future Olympic aspirations in Russia, said Metek Boduszyński, which teaches the foreign policy of the United States in Pomona College in Claremont, California.
“Let’s say that Ukraine took and took it quickly. That would not have reduced the outrage of the outside world, right?” Boduszyński said. “But I suppose that in the end, the prize of taking Ukraine was bigger, bigger than” the risk of losing Olympic participation. ”
But Kent believes that Putin launched the dice with the hope that the reaction against Russia would have decreased by Paris 2024 and surely in time for Milan Cortina 2026.
“I think they thought that the conquest of Ukraine would be very fast and very successful and that any international resistance would explode,” Kent said. “And in Olympic terms, [it would blow over] in time for 2024 or maybe the following [2026]. While I don’t think it was his main problem, I don’t think he will expect international conviction to be as strong as it was or that Ukrainian resistance is what it has been. ”
