{"id":12644,"date":"2026-02-18T15:16:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12644"},"modified":"2026-02-18T15:16:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:16:58","slug":"russian-belarusian-athletes-to-compete-under-own-flag-at-paralympics-2026-winter-olympics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12644","title":{"rendered":"Russian, Belarusian athletes to compete under own flag at Paralympics 2026 | Winter Olympics News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Ukraine reacts angrily to the International Paralympic Committee\u2019s decision, saying the move was \u2018disappointing and outrageous\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 18 Feb 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">18 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Ukraine has slammed the move to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own national flags at the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics 2026 and overturn the ban imposed after Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion.<\/p>\n<p>Russia and Belarus will have a combined 10 para-athletes at next month\u2019s Paralympics, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said in a \u2060statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cThe decision by the @Paralympics organisers to allow killers and their accomplices to compete at the Paralympic Games under national flags is both disappointing and outrageous,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi wrote on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Russian and Belarusian flags \u201chave no place at international sporting events that stand for fairness, integrity, and respect. These are the flags of regimes that have turned sport into a tool of war, lies, and contempt,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Attacking President Vladimir Putin, Bidnyi said, in Russia, \u201cParalympic sport has been made a pillar for those whom Putin sent to Ukraine to kill \u2013 and who returned from Ukraine with injuries and disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Belarus and Russia were banned from Paralympic competitions after the invasion of Ukraine, but regained full membership rights in the IPC after member organisations voted in September 2025 to \u2060lift their partial suspensions.<\/p>\n<p>International federations for each sport on the Paralympic Games programme had said they would maintain bans on athletes from those countries, but Russia and Belarus won an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport back in December against the \u200cInternational Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFollowing the decision by IPC members at September 2025\u2019s IPC General Assembly \u2026 and December\u2019s subsequent Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision \u2026 both NPCs were eligible to apply for bipartite slots through FIS for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in the sports of Para alpine skiing, Para cross-country skiing and Para snowboard,\u201d the IPC said in a statement, referring to the National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) of Russia and Belarus.<\/p>\n<p>Russia will have two spots in Para alpine skiing, two in Para cross-country skiing \u2060and two in Para snowboard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNPC Belarus has been awarded \u2060four slots in total, all in cross-country skiing \u2013 one male and three female,\u201d the IPC added.<\/p>\n<p>While the athletes can compete under their own flags at the Paralympics from March 6 to 15, a limited number of Russian and Belarusian \u2060athletes are competing as independent neutral athletes without flags or anthems at the ongoing Winter Games, with the Olympic committees of the \u2060two nations still sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2060IPC\u2019s decision left Ukrainian Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was disqualified from the skeleton event at the Olympics last week, fuming.<\/p>\n<p>The IPC decision left Ukraine\u2019s Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was last week disqualified from the skeleton event at the Milano \u2013 Cortina Olympics, fuming.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s \u200cabsurd that they gift some quotas,\u201d Heraskevych, who was disqualified for wanting to wear a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed during Russia\u2019s invasion of his country, told the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukraine reacts angrily to the International Paralympic Committee\u2019s decision, saying the move was \u2018disappointing and outrageous\u2019. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info Published On 18 Feb 202618 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Ukraine has slammed the move to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own national [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}