# Bobsled federation blocks Russian athletes from 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics

Event date: September 12, 2025.

Russian bobsled and skeleton athletes will not compete at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics after the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation voted against allowing them into its events under neutral status.

The decision came at the federation’s congress in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Italian venue that will host the sliding events at the Winter Games. According to the AP report, the vote rejected a proposal that could have let Russian athletes return as neutral individuals. The federation said in a statement that it had decided by secret ballot not to allow participation of Russian athletes as neutral athletes in IBSF events.

That outcome leaves Russian sliders out of the Olympic path for another cycle. The AP story notes that they have not competed on the top international circuit in more than three years, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and that the absence from World Cup races and world championships has already made qualification difficult. Even before the vote, the route to Milan-Cortina was described as narrow.

The decision follows a similar move by the International Luge Federation in June, which also kept Russian athletes from competing in major international events. In that sense, the bobsled and skeleton ruling is not isolated. It is part of a broader pattern among winter-sport bodies that have maintained restrictions on Russian participation in the wake of the war.

The AP report says Russian officials later argued that the vote was not unanimous, but the federation’s public position was clear. No neutral-status return was approved, and the door to Olympic qualification in those events remained shut.

The practical impact is significant because bobsled and skeleton have a limited and highly structured qualifying system. Athletes need time on the international circuit, access to competition results and enough ranking points or placements to earn spots. With Russian athletes absent from major races for years, the federation’s decision leaves no straightforward path back before the Winter Games in February.

The ruling also underscores how governance decisions in sport have remained tied to the war in Ukraine. Winter federations have tended to move cautiously, and some have kept Russian athletes away from the most visible stages even when neutral status might have been considered elsewhere. The IBSF vote shows that the neutrality concept did not persuade the governing body to reverse course.

For Milan-Cortina, the outcome narrows the list of unresolved participation questions. The federation’s choice does not affect the broader Olympic schedule, but it does settle one debate that had hovered over the sliding events. Unless the decision changes later, Russia will be absent from bobsled and skeleton competition at the 2026 Games.