There will be no Olympics in Italy next winter for Russia and Belarus. News agency Reuters reports that neither country will be allowed to participate in the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.

According to the news agency, the International Olympic Committee has now closed the door on the two suspended countries: Russia and Belarus.

This means that Alexander Bolshunov and company will once again have to stay home while their competitors fight for international medals.

” The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place,” says the IOC, following rumors during the Ice Hockey World Championship that the door to the Olympics might be slightly open for a Russian team in Milano Cortina.

During the Summer Olympics in Paris, a few individual athletes from Russia and Belarus were allowed to compete without their own flag or national anthem. They participated as neutral athletes. None of the countries were allowed to compete with teams, only individual athletes.

A few Russian figure skaters have been given the opportunity to try to qualify for the 2026 Olympics as neutral athletes. This is because their international skating federation has opened for that possibility.

But the same does not apply to FIS, which has closed the door on athletes from Russia and Belarus.

The countries are banned from the Olympics due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, where Russia continues to bomb with drones and rockets.

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