Winter Olympics 2026 in Italy: Russian Participation and Broadcasts
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Italy. The main host cities will be Milan and Cortina d«Ampezzo, but competitions will also take place in other locations on the Apennine Peninsula.
Dates
The main program competitions are scheduled from 6 to 22 February 2026. Some qualifying stages may start a bit earlier. The Paralympic Winter Games are planned from 6 to 15 March of the same year.
Broadcasts
Unlike previous years, the 2026 Winter Olympics will not be shown on free TV channels in Russia. Broadcasts of all competitions will be available exclusively on the streaming platform Okko, as confirmed by the service«s press service on January 21.
Sports Program
At the 2026 Games, medals will be contested in 16 winter sports. These include:
- alpine skiing
- biathlon
- bobsleigh
- cross-country skiing
- curling
- figure skating
- freestyle skiing
- ice hockey
- luge
- Nordic combined
- short track speed skating
- skeleton
- ski jumping
- ski mountaineering
- snowboarding
- speed skating
The only new sport in the program will be ski mountaineering, where athletes cover a course combining uphill skiing and hiking with downhill sections. New disciplines have also been added, such as the team combined in alpine skiing, women«s doubles in luge, women»s large hill in ski jumping, mixed team competitions in skeleton, and dual moguls for men and women.
Russian Participants
Russian athletes will be able to compete at the Olympics only as neutral participants, without national symbols, due to the current international situation.
- In ski mountaineering, the sole Russian representative will be Nikita Filippov. A master of sport, 23-time national champion, he paid 5,000 euros for the right to participate and successfully passed the selection.
- In figure skating, medals will be contested by singles skaters Adelia Petrosian (two-time Russian champion, three-time winner of the Russian Cup Final) and Petr Gumennik (holder of a full set of medals from Russian championships, two-time Grand Prix stage winner). Both possess quadruple jumps.
- In cross-country skiing, neutral status was granted to Savely Korostelev (multiple Russian champion, considered one of the main rivals of Alexander Bolshunov) and Daria Nepryaeva (two-time Russian champion, master of sport, junior world champion). They were the first Russians to pass the necessary qualifying competitions.
- Invitations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were also received by short track speed skaters Ivan Posashkov and Alena Krylova.
- Olympic licenses were won by speed skaters Ksenia Korzhova and Anastasia Semenova, as well as lugers Daria Olesik and Pavel Repilov.
A number of athletes are awaiting the final decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding admission. Participation of Russians is permitted only in individual disciplines; team competitions are closed to them.
At the Paralympic Games, the chances for Russian athletes are significantly higher. As stated by the head of the Russian Paralympic Committee, Pavel Rozhkov, on Match TV: «There could be around forty athletes in cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, and parasnowboard. Unfortunately, the guys are not making it to the Games in curling and sled hockey. There is still no decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding biathletes. We are claiming participation in the Games in three disciplines.»
Key Events
Among the most anticipated events of the Olympics are the hockey tournaments. Despite the absence of the Russian team, the finals of men«s and women»s hockey will take place on February 22 and 20, respectively. The matches will be held at the new Santa Giulia arena in Milan, which has already made headlines due to a hole that formed in the ice during the first test match.
Biathlon competitions will be held at the stadium in Antholz. The first medals will be contested on February 8 in the mixed 4x6 km relay. In the following days, the program includes individual races, sprints, and pursuit races, and on February 20 and 21 — mass starts of 15 km for men and 12.5 km for women.
In figure skating, five sets of medals will be awarded from February 6 to 19. The team competition starts on February 6, and its results will be finalized on February 8. This will be followed by competitions in pairs, men«s singles, and women»s singles skating. A new feature will be the holding of award ceremonies immediately after the competitions end.
