Is Russia In The Olympics: What Milan-Cortina and Paris reveal about a return

Is Russia In The Olympics remains an unsettled question as the Milan-Cortina Winter Games wind down: Russian athletes are on the field of play as Individual Neutral Athletes, but the country remains barred from competing under its flag, and fresh allegations about past doping have pushed the issue back into the spotlight.

Neutral status at Milan-Cortina and recent participation counts

At Milan-Cortina, 13 athletes from Russia competed under the neutral banner; that follows 15 who appeared in Paris as Individual Neutral Athletes and 209 who competed four years ago in Beijing under the "Russian Olympic Committee" banner. Individual Neutral Athletes are barred from wearing national colours, cannot display their nation's flag and do not appear on the official medal table.

Only one AIN medaled at Milan-Cortina: Nikita Filippov won silver in the men's ski mountaineering event. No neutral athlete has won an event at these Games, which would have prompted the playing of the Olympic anthem and the raising of the Olympic flag instead of any national representation. Russian women's figure skater Adeliia Petrosian, considered a top contender, finished sixth after falling during her free skate.

Is Russia In The Olympics: closing ceremonies, separation and what changed

Organizers allowed Individual Neutral Athletes to attend the closing ceremony in Verona because athletes are traditionally not separated by nation at that event; AIN competitors were absent from the opening parade in Milan's San Siro stadium and the simultaneous ceremonies in Cortina and Livigno. The change means neutrals can enter the stadium as a group at the close of the Games.

IOC president Kirsty Coventry sidestepped questions about the broader Russia issue at a news conference held as the Games neared their end. "For right now, we’re focusing on the last three days of Milano Cortina, " she said. When asked about a recent media story alleging a whistleblower told the World Anti-Doping Agency that Veronika Loginova was involved in the state-sponsored doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Coventry said, "I’m looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed because I’m not aware of that. " IOC spokesman Mark Adams interjected, "I haven’t heard it. " WADA has acknowledged the existence of a generic and serious whistleblower tip to the Times, but nothing has been proven.

Paralympics decision and immediate fallout

The International Paralympic Committee has taken a different path: it awarded 10 bipartite commission invitations that will allow some Russians and Belarusians to compete under their national flags at the Milan-Cortina Paralympics next month. That move prompted Ukraine's Paralympic athletes and officials to say they will boycott the Paralympic opening ceremony on March 6.

The IPC decision and the separate handling of AIN athletes at the Olympics highlight competing approaches across Olympic and Paralympic bodies. IOC leaders have emphasized that the IPC is a separate organization; Coventry reiterated that separation while declining to comment on the IPC's decision.

What happens next is focused and immediate: the Milan-Cortina Paralympics will proceed next month with the IPC's invitations in place, and closing-day ceremonies in Verona will include Individual Neutral Athletes who were excluded from the opening parades. The whistleblower allegation recognized by WADA remains unproven and was raised as a concern at the IOC's end-of-Games news briefing.