By GRAHAM DUNBAR, Associated Press Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — 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.

Their return after exclusion during the full military invasion of Ukraine could be within days at Davos in Switzerland. Former world junior cross-country ski champion Savelii Korostelev posted “debut this weekend” on his social media channels.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) said it cleared the applications of the nine to get neutral athlete status and return to competitions for the first time since February 2022.

FIS did not state if it rejected some applications, or how many, though the Russian sk

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