Degtyarev said that a maximum of 13 Russian athletes will compete at the 2026 Olympics

The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev said that the maximum number of Russian participants in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy will be 13 people.

Previously, invitations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the Olympics were accepted by Russian skiers Savely Korostelev and Daria Nepryaeva, speed skaters Ksenia Korzhova and Anastasia Semenova, figure skaters Pyotr Gumennik and Adelia Petrosyan, ski mountaineer Nikita Filippov, as well as short track speed skaters Ivan Posashkov and Alena Krylova.

— A maximum of 13 people will compete at the Olympics. We’ll watch, we’ll definitely be rooting for it. The discussion about neutral status is difficult. As a citizen and a person who sat in the State Duma for 13 years, I understand this. But preventing athletes from performing is wrong. They compete for Russia, bring medals for Russia. And at the same time, we are recovering (at international competitions) with varying degrees of success,” Degtyarev said at the “Knowledge. State”.

The 2026 Olympics will take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo from February 6 to 22. The Russians will participate in the competition in a neutral status.