Trio of Russian athletes barred from luge World Cup in Lake Placid amid neutrality concerns

The International Luge Federation has withdrawn the eligibility of three Russian athletes who intended to slide in Lake Placid, New York, this weekend in hopes of moving closer to qualifying for the Milan Cortina Olympics, the governing body announced Tuesday.

The federation's executive board made the decision to remove Alexsandr Gorbatsevich, Sofiia Mazur and Kseniia Shamova from the list of eligible sliders after “new evidence” was presented and discussed with, among others, the International Olympic Committee.

FIL officials did not reveal the nature of the evidence, but a person familiar with the situation said it called into question the neutrality of Gorbatsevich, Mazur and Shamova regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because that detail was not released publicly.

The neutrality issue is paramount in the process of determining which Russian athletes will be allowed to even have a chance of qualifying for the Olympics. Certain sports federations are preparing to let Russian athletes compete, but only after they are cleared by an independent review process to ensure that they have not publicly supported the war and are not affiliated with Russia’s military or other forces.

For now, Russian sliders Matvei Perestoronin, Pavel Repilov and Daria Olesik are still expected to compete at this weekend’s luge World Cup stop in Lake Placid. All three participated in official training on Tuesday and are expected to again on Wednesday, before likely taking part in a Nations Cup race Thursday. The Nations Cup is a qualifying race for those not automatically assured of a spot in the World Cup field.

Russians have not taken part in a World Cup luge race since January 2022, part of the response that the FIL and other sports governing bodies had to that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The IOC wants Russians — in many sports — to have the opportunity to compete as neutral athletes at the Milan Cortina Games. Luge, like some other sports, originally refused to allow any Russians to take part this year, then amended those decisions after appeals.

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics