Six athletes to compete under Russian flag at Paralympics

BBC News - WorldCenterEN 2 min read 100% complete February 17, 2026 at 07:23 PM

AI Summary

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Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will compete under their national flags at the upcoming Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lifted its ban on athletes from these countries in September, initially imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus as a close ally. Despite individual governing bodies maintaining bans, Russia and Belarus successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing them to compete in skiing and snowboarding events. The IPC confirmed the allocation of bipartite commission invitations, granting Russia slots in Para-alpine skiing, Para-cross country skiing, and Para-snowboarding, while Belarus received slots in cross-country skiing. This marks the first time the Russian flag will be flown at the Paralympics since 2014.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Sochi 2014 Games 40% BBC Sport 40% Aleksey Bugaev 40% Ivan Golubkov 40% Anastasiia Bagiian 40% Court of Arbitration for Sport 50% FIS 60% Lisa Nandy ×260% Ukraine ×370% Belarus ×580% International Paralympic Committee ×380% Russia ×790%

Keywords

paralympics 100% russian athletes 90% belarusian athletes 80% international paralympic committee 70% ukraine invasion 60% bipartite commission invitations 60% para-cross country skiing 50% para-snowboarding 50% para-alpine skiing 50% flag 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.20

Source Transparency

Source

BBC News - World

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Russia

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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paralympics russian athletes belarusian athletes international paralympic committee ukraine invasion bipartite commission invitations para-cross country skiing para-snowboarding para-alpine skiing flag

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