Russian Athletes Get OK for 2026 Olympics, With a Catch

Russian athletes have been cleared to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, but—once again—there's a catch: They'll do so under a neutral flag, as decided by the International Olympic Committee on Friday. The ruling keeps in place the same restrictions seen for the Paris 2024 Summer Games, continuing the fallout from Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, reports CBS News.

Russian and Belarusia athletes—the latter saw the same treatment by the IOC over their assistance to the Russian war effort—who qualify and want to compete as "Independent Neutral Athletes" must pass a vetting process to ensure they have no ties to their countries' militaries or support for the war in Ukraine. "The Independent Neutral Athletes ... will be nothing new," IOC President Kirsty Coventry said. "The Executive board will take the exact same approach that was done in Paris. Nothing has changed."

Team entries from Russia and Belarus remain off the table, and the exact number of neutral athletes will depend on international sports federations, some of which continue to bar Russian and Belarusian competitors. For instance, ESPN in June reported the International Luge Federation had voted to continue to exclude Russian athletes from its competitions.