Lake Placid, NY (AP) – Russian athletes Bobslets and skeletons is not going to take part within the Milan -Cortina 2026 Olympic Video games, the director of those two sports activities selected Friday.
The Worldwide Bobsleflant and Skeleton Federation voted for a notion that might have allowed Russian athletes to compete as people with impartial standing. The vote passed off on the Congress of the Federation in Cortina in Ampezzo, Italy – the positioning of slippery occasions for winter video games in February.
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Friday’s determination follows the same determination taken by the Worldwide Luge Federation in June. The federations of skeleton and tobing bobsled prevented Russian athletes from taking part in main worldwide occasions – reminiscent of World Cup races and world championships – since this nation invaded Ukraine in 2022.
“After many discussions, the Congress determined by secret poll to not enable the participation of Russian athletes as impartial advertisements in IBSF occasions,” mentioned the federation.
Russian officers later mentioned that the vote was not unanimous.
The choice was not surprising, and even when Friday’s vote had been adopted in another way, the Russian athlete path to {qualifications} for the Jean-Cortina on the Video games might have been fairly tough. They haven’t contributed to the primary worldwide circuits for greater than three years and we have no idea which one – if needed – sleds might have been adequate to win an Olympic place.
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Russia might attraction, though the time is exhausted. The World Cup season begins on the Cortina observe on November 21. The Jean-Cortina Olympics opened on February 6.
“I can not communicate for every athlete, however I can speak to myself and I do not assume it is a shock,” the US Bobsledder Kaillie Humphries mentioned on Friday. “Even when they had been allowed to enter, how would it not work?” Is it only for Ukraine, for Ukrainian athletes, for different athletes who might have a household or hyperlinks? It might merely create an entire storm of issues. ”
There have been 28 cursors from Russia – 10 in toboggans, six in skeleton and 12 in Bobslets – through the Beijing 2022 Video games, though they competed underneath the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee and never the actual Russian flag. It was a part of the sanctions taken from Russia for the doping scandal sponsored by the State which overshadowed the 2014 Sochi Olympic Video games.
Beijing video games closed 4 days earlier than the assault on the assault on Ukraine. Russian athlete Tatyana Ivanova gained a bronze medal within the feminine sledge in easy.
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On the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games, Russia and the Bélarus navy ally had been excluded from group sports activities, however particular person sports activities athletes might request impartial standing to compete. In complete, 32 invites accepted by the Worldwide Olympic Committee after having efficiently accomplished eligibility assessments which understood to not publicly help the struggle and never have hyperlinks with navy and state safety businesses.
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Olympic AP: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics
