Shoulda Seen This Coming . . . Russian Skiers Return to World Cup and Olympics

It sounds like things just took a turn . . . and everyone really shoulda seen this coming.

Articles published today (Dec 2) in both the New York Times and Langrenn reported that the Court of Arbitration for Sport had upheld the appeal submitted by Russian Ski Association (RSF) and select Russian athletes. What does that mean? Well, after a complex and convoluted set of explanations, it means that FIS cannot place a wholesale ban on all athletes from Russia and Belarus; therefore, Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) from both nations will be allowed to compete in upcoming World Cup events that represent qualifying opportunities for the Winter Olympic Games.

A month ago, every media outlet in the sporting world announced that athletes from Russia and Belarus would be excluded from qualifying events sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and leading up to the Olympic Winter Games in 2026. If Russian athletes couldn’t qualify for the Olympics, then they couldn’t compete in the Olympics. End of story. Numerous ski-industry publications made it sound like a done deal—Russia was out, and that was it. Time for FasterSkier to toot its own horn a bit: we told you a decision-reversal could happen . . . and now the appeals of Russian and Belarusian athletes and organizations have been approved by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). As a result, FIS will be compelled to include Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) from both Russia and Belarus. Russian and Belarusian flags won’t be waving at the ski venues in Cortina this winter, but a select group of Russian and Belarusian athletes will be lining up for those events, nonetheless.

Just like in the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024, the field in Milano-Cortina will include a select set of Russians and Belarusians who meet two conditions:

1. The individual athletes have never been supporters of the war on Ukraine.
2. The individual athletes are willing to make themselves available for independent drug screening.

And a few conditions on athlete representation, as well.

1. AINs can participate in individual events, only. No team events (for skiers, that means no relays).
2. No national anthems, no national flags. They may be Russians, but if an AIN wins gold the IOC gets to pick the music they listen to on the podium, and the flag that flies above them.
3. No national uniforms. Colors, designs, and insignia must meet standards that will be set by the IOC.

Norway Won’t Like it—But They’ll Probably Be polite About It

This whole set of decisions also means that Russians will be on the starting line at World Cup events this weekend in Trondheim (hometown of Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, and one of the hotbeds of Nordic skiing in Norway—a nation that has seemed almost wholly opposed to the return of Russian athletes to World Cup and Olympic competition). The rest of the world is left to wonder whether the motivation of many Norwegian administrators, coaches, athletes and fans was simply that the Russians were the team most likely to interrupt the performances of Norwegian stars in the Olympics. Well, duh! Of course they want their rivals sidelined. The fact that the Olympic results would not have included some of the best skiers in the world would have been little more than a footnote in the history of skiing. And Olympic immortality remembers only the medal, not the quality of the field.

The field in question will likely be without the most notable names in Russian skiing, many of whom were vocal and visible supporters of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That stance, alone, disqualifies athletes like Alexander Bolshunov (who dominated events at the Beijing Olympics in 2022). In his place we’re likely to see Russia’s former Junior World Champion and current phenomenon, Saveliy Korostelev, who clobbered Bolshunov in last season’s Russian Championships. Norway won’t like it, but Russian skiers may still end up being the most likely to overturn the punch bowl at Klaebo’s Olympic coronation.

A Fair and Logical Choice?

FIS’ charter restricts the organization from discriminating against any athlete for political reasons. That, alone, should’ve let FIS know that what they were doing—painting every Russian and Belarusian athlete with the broad war-mongering brush wielded by Vladimir Putin—was not sustainable. According to its own charter, FIS is precluded from excluding an athlete simply because they are Russian. So, FIS made its point—”We really don’t like you guys”—but now that particular bureaucratic melodrama has ended. The Court of Arbitration ruled clearly, and the Russians (certain Russians) are in.

The CAS decision on FIS policies was not the only one of its kind to hit the headlines recently—and ALL those recent decisions went the same direction. The International Skating Union (ISU) recently announced that, after sufficient and appropriate scrutiny, two Russian figure skaters (Petr Gumennik and Adeliia Petrosian) and one Belarusion figure skater (Victoriya Safonova) had qualified as AINs who will be eligible to compete in the Winter Olympics in 2026. Parallel determinations are expected from the ISU concerning eligible speedskaters and short track skaters. Similar announcements also arrived earlier from international governing bodies in Luge, Bobsled, Skeleton, and Biathlon. The message was clear: the Olympic Committee wants Russias and Belarusian athletes to be participants in the Olympic Games. It’s a watered-down version of the original Olympic Truce, which held that all wars would cease, and the athletes would join together in a display of fairness, collegiality, and peace.

IOC has remained totally in favor of punishing Russia, and excluding all things “Russian” from inclusion in the Olympic Games. But where IOC does make a concession is that Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) should be allowed to compete if they meet certain conditions. The IOC feels that’s fair and logical. According to the charters of all the organizations involved, that does seem to be the case.