The UK Government will boycott the Winter Paralympics opening and closing ceremonies in protest against Russian and Belarusian athletes being permitted to compete under their own flags. Six athletes from Russia and four from Belarus will be directly representing their countries rather than competing as neutrals at the Games in Milano-Cortina.
A spokesperson for the British Government stated: “We strongly oppose the decision of the International Paralympic Committee to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own flags at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.
“We have been clear that the Russian and Belarusian states should not be represented in international sport whilst the barbaric full-scale invasion of Ukraine is ongoing. Therefore, no Government ministers or officials will attend the opening or closing ceremonies of the Paralympics.”
The UK Government statement further highlighted that Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock would be in Cortina solely to support British athletes. The statement continued: “They have worked tirelessly over the last four years to be ready for the biggest moment of their sporting lives and deserve to have the nation behind them.”
The Winter Paralympics kick off on March 6 and run until March 15. The closing ceremony of the able-bodied Winter Olympics only concluded on February 22.
One of the most controversial moments of the competition was the decision to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych from competing in Milan and Cortina. He was barred from competing for refusing to not wear a helmet which was adorned with the faces of Ukrainian athletes killed as a result of Russia’s invasion of his homeland.
Although he was permitted to stay in Italy for the Games, he was prohibited from competing, after the IOC stated his helmet violated rules against political speech in competition. They also claimed his helmet contravened IOC’s guidelines on athlete expression.
However, Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnaller was allowed to compete, despite a Russian flag, which is banned along with the Belarusian flag, appearing on his helmet.
The seven-time Olympian sported numerous flags on his helmet, each symbolising the countries he has competed in, with the Russian flag believed to denote the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.