Six athletes to compete under Russian flag at Paralympics

Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will compete under their nations' flags at the upcoming Winter Paralympics.In September, the International Paralympic Committee lifted its ban on athletes from the two countries competing at the Games.Both countries were suspended from Paralympic competition after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus a close ally of Russia. A partial ban - allowing athletes to compete as neutrals - was introduced in 2023. However, the four individual governing bodies in charge of the six sports contested at the Paralympics decided to keep their bans in place.In December, Russia and Belarus won an appeal against FIS - the governing body for skiing and snowboarding - at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), permitting them to compete and accumulate ranking points.The IPC confirmed to BBC Sport that the 10 athletes have been awarded bipartite commission invitations to compete in Para-alpine skiing, Para-cross country skiing and Para-snowboarding at the Milan-Cortina Games."The IPC can confirm that NPC Russia has been awarded a total of six slots: two in Para-alpine skiing (one male, one female), two in Para-cross country skiing (one male, one female), and two in Para-snowboard (both male)," it said in a statement."NPC Belarus has been awarded four slots in total, all in cross-country skiing (one male and three female)."Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was "completely the wrong decision"."Allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flags while the brutal invasion of Ukraine continues sends a terrible message," Nandy wrote on X."The International Paralympic Committee should reconsider this decision urgently."Bipartite commission invites are granted to individual athletes, rather than their international federation, and allow the participation of top athletes "who may not have had the opportunity to qualify through other methods due to extraordinary circumstances", among other factors.Ukraine has also been awarded bipartite slots in three sports.It will mark the first time a Russian flag has been flown at a Paralympic Games since the Sochi 2014 Games, firstly due to the country's state-sponsored doping programme, before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.Russian news agency TASS reports that among the athletes set to compete are Aleksey Bugaev, a three-time Paralympic champion in alpine skiing, and cross-country skiers Ivan Golubkov and Anastasiia Bagiian - both are World Championship medallists.All three returned to competition in January, and both Bugaev and Bagiian have since won World Cup titles.The Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics will take place from 6-15 March.