Three skiers from Russia and six from Belarus — including former Olympic and world champions — were approved Wednesday to compete in qualifying events for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games in February.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation said it cleared the applications of the nine to get neutral athlete status and return to competitions for the first time since the full military invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago. FIS did not state if it rejected some applications, or how many.

Athletes and their entourages must not have publicly supported the war and not have ties to military or state security agencies.

Top Russian figure skaters get IOC approval to compete at Milan-Cortina Olympics

Only 4 Russian figure skaters approved for Olympic qualification event as neutrals

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