Russian Sports in Their Fourth Year of Isolation — How Has This Hit Athletes?

Over the past week, representatives of one of Russia’s most popular sports — figure skating — have twice encountered the consequences of sporting isolation. The Russian national team was not granted entry in two out of four program disciplines at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Meanwhile, figure skater Veronika Zhilina still cannot transfer to the Azerbaijani national team to compete in international tournaments without restrictions — she is being blocked by the Russian federation.

Russian sport has been in isolation for the fourth year. After the start of the full-scale war, most Russian athletes lost the opportunity to compete in international events. The decision to bar them was made by international federations.

The situation is the worst in team sports. The Russian national football team missed the 2022 World Cup, the 2024 UEFA European Championship, and is almost certain not to take part in the 2026 World Cup — the qualifying tournament began without Russians. The ongoing Ice Hockey World Championship is the fourth in a row without a Russian team. Russians do not participate in international basketball, volleyball, handball tournaments, and so on.

In individual sports, the situation is better. Some federations do not allow Russians into international tournaments, but many allow them to compete as neutrals — without a flag, anthem, and sometimes with other restrictions (such as communication with the press, etc.). Tennis stands apart, where Russians play under a white flag at all tournaments except team events, without problem.

For Russian athletes, isolation creates two difficulties — careers and money.

Money

From a financial perspective, isolation hit representatives of individual sports hardest. In popular team sports like football, hockey, or basketball, most athlete earnings come from club contracts. The expenses of Russian clubs on player salaries have not changed significantly since the war, so athletes’ incomes still primarily depend on their performance. For example, if a hockey player from Amur Khabarovsk starts scoring in every match, he will most likely end up with the Gazprom-sponsored SKA and get a significant salary bump.

In individual sports, leading athletes have lost two things — prize money for international tournaments and sponsorship contracts with Western companies.

Russian sports authorities have tried to offset the loss of international prize money by increasing payouts at domestic tournaments and international competitions held in Russia, like the BRICS Games, though these are not comparable in status or level of competition to the world’s biggest events.

For example, in figure skating until 2022, winners and medalists of the Russian Championships and the Russian Grand Prix series did not receive prize money. In September 2022, the Russian federation introduced them. Now, at the Russian Championships, first place pays 2.5 million rubles, second — 1.5 million, third — 1 million.

Prize money at international tournaments is higher. The world champion receives (converted) 5.1 million rubles, the Grand Prix Final winner — 2 million. But the competition at these tournaments is definitely higher than in Russia.

Overall, the prize money situation depends heavily on the sport, but for top Russian athletes, it has likely worsened during isolation, explains a Russian journalist covering Olympic sports who asked to remain anonymous. “At international events, the prize money is still higher than in Russia. Moreover, international success significantly increases an athlete’s popularity and allows them to earn from sponsorship contracts.”

Because of the war, some Russian athletes lost the sponsorship contracts they had. For example, Speedo terminated its contract with two-time Olympic swimming champion Evgeny Rylov after he attended a rally celebrating the annexation of Crimea in 2023. Ski manufacturer Rossignol suspended cooperation with three-time Olympic champion Aleksandr Bolshunov and other Russian skiers.

“I lost more than half my income: that’s the contract with the outfitter, [the international tournament] Diamond League, bonus money from the outfitter. These are big losses that no one intends or will ever compensate for,” said Olympic high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene in February 2024. Speaking only of prize money, she said that to earn as much as at one stage of the Diamond League (about 10,000 euros), Lasitskene would have to win every tournament of the season in Russia.

At the same time, athletes who previously did not make the national teams and competed only at Russian events may even be better off. They still compete in Russia, but now can earn more.

Careers

From a sporting perspective, the main achievements in an athlete’s career are tied to international tournaments. For most sports, these are the Olympic Games and World Championships. After the war began, Russians have been largely forced to compete in domestic events.

Athletes in individual sports still have the chance to compete internationally — but for this, they must obtain so-called neutral status.

The conditions for obtaining this were formulated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in March 2023. In addition to the requirement to compete without a flag or anthem, there is a clause on “active support for the war in Ukraine.” The athlete must not participate in pro-war events, must not publicly support the war, must not display symbols of Russian aggression, and must not belong to sports clubs linked to security agencies. This refers to CSKA (Ministry of Defense) and Dynamo (Ministry of Internal Affairs).

Decisions on admission are made by international federations. If the application for neutral status is approved, the athlete can compete in international tournaments. For the 2024 Summer Olympics, after approval by the international federation, athletes also needed the green light from a special IOC commission.

But even when the IOC allowed Russian athletes to compete under neutral flags, most Russian federations long refused to submit applications. The main reason was the lack of a clear position from the country’s leadership. Vladimir Putin would say that “the interests of athletes should come first,” then urge to “carefully analyze what conditions the IOC puts forward,” then, through his press secretary Dmitry Peskov, assert that an Olympic champion “becomes the flag and anthem himself.”

This period of uncertainty also affected the 2024 Summer Olympics. In most sports, Russia was not represented. In some cases, international federations did not grant neutral status to Russians at all; in others, Russian federations decided not to claim it; elsewhere, Russian federations announced a boycott of the Games even after athletes had received neutral status. In the end, only 15 Russians competed in Paris. For comparison: in 2021, 336 Russian athletes competed at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Cases of athletes going against their federation’s line were almost nonexistent. An interesting story happened with wrestler Shamil Mamedov. The Russian Wrestling Federation applied for neutral status, but several athletes did not receive it due to non-compliance with IOC criteria. After that, the federation decided not to send anyone to Paris. Mamedov, having received neutral status, accepted the IOC invitation individually. This greatly displeased federation head Mikhail Mamiashvili: “The question: who is the moderator of his decision? Playtime is long over; on our turf we need to take these things more seriously,” “So it turns out the team’s decision means nothing to him.” Two days later, Mamedov withdrew from the Olympics, alleging injury.

After the Games in Paris, the Russian leadership finally settled on a position regarding participation in international tournaments, including the Olympics. Peskov promised to defend the national team’s interests to ensure its participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, including in team events. The stance that Russians should participate in competitions is now consistently supported by Mikhail Degtyarev, who last year headed first the Ministry of Sport and then the Russian Olympic Committee: “Participation is better than isolation. You have to go through any crack, any opening.”

When the leadership chose its course, athletes, coaches, and sports officials who previously supported isolation quickly changed their minds. Here are a few examples.

• Irina Viner, the head coach of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics national team until February 2025

March 26, 2024. “A team of bums without a flag, anthem, or fans will go to the Olympics.”

January 26, 2025. “Now I’m no longer opposed [to neutral status]. Because the state must decide everything. The state decided it’s necessary. The party said: it is necessary, the Komsomol answered: yes!

• Veronika Stepanova, cross-country skier, Olympic champion

March 28, 2023. “Why don’t you all just go to hell with all your conditions and recommendations, dear IOC? <...> Run yourselves in that case.”

February 3, 2025. “I never said I wouldn’t go to competitions without a flag or anthem. Try to find where I said that. I stand by my words: you have to go to win.”

• Evgeniia Chikunova, swimmer, world record holder

April 3, 2024. “I will not apply for neutral status. <...> I don’t see myself as a neutral athlete.”

November 18, 2024. “Now that the topic of neutral status is out there, I want to return to the international stage.”

• Yelena Välbe, president of the Russian Cross-Country Skiing Federation

April 12, 2023. “I am against neutral status and will persuade my athletes that we should not be traitors to our homeland.”

April 29, 2025. “Every athlete will make their own decision; I never tried to talk anyone out of participating in the Olympics.”

Most athletes themselves admit that international tournaments cannot be replaced by anything.

“The level of the Olympics, the World Championships — nothing can replace that,” said Olympic gymnastics champion Angelina Melnikova before the Paris Games.

“The Olympics can’t be replaced by anything. <...> It’s not even about the trophies or the money. It’s the feeling — you can’t get that anywhere else. <...> Our lives are built around the Olympics,” said Olympic cross-country skiing champion Yulia Stupak.

“I miss the competition, because it’s in competition that serious results are born. There are few of us in Russia, I have no one to chase, there are no rivals here who would spark my excitement,” complained Russian pole vault champion Polina Knoroz.

“Pretty crappy [without the Olympics]. Really, pretty damn crappy,” said world champion hurdler Sergey Shubenkov.

Can athletes break out of isolation on their own

In theory, an athlete can apply for neutral status independently of their national federation’s position. However, in Russia, representatives of most Olympic sports are highly dependent on their federations — essentially, on the state. They pay athletes’ salaries, organize training and domestic competitions.

Athletes rarely talk about why they do not try to get to international competitions on their own. That’s why the opinion of someone who did speak out is especially interesting.

“These sponsors left, you’re supposed to give up those, too. Give up state support as well — after all, Russia is so bad! I can’t say I like everything that’s happening. Hardly anyone likes it — I’ll speak for the athletes. We, the athletes, got hit hard. Great, but what am I supposed to eat? Fine, I’ll train myself for a year with no salary, no gear, no medical care — for what? To go to the Olympics once?” asked track athlete Sergey Shubenkov in the summer of 2023. A year later, he added: “Foreign sponsors left in 2022, there are no Russian ones at all, let’s say I’m even cut off from state salaries. And I have a family. Am I supposed to go hungry for some lofty idea?”

Athletes have one more way to get onto the international stage — to start competing for another country. Since the war began, hundreds of athletes have done this. In September 2023, the Ministry of Sport reported more than a hundred athletes who had changed sports citizenship; a bit earlier, media outlet Holod counted more than 200 athletes who had done so or planned to do so.

However, cases where leaders of Russian national teams leave to compete for another country are extremely rare. These include, for example, cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev’s switch to Israel — at the Olympics in Paris he was a medal contender but left empty-handed. Tennis player Daria Kasatkina, who has not lived in Russia for a long time, now plays for Australia; she would now be Russia’s third-ranked player. World boxing champions Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, who compete in the professional ring, also changed sports citizenship.

A separate story involves Russian wrestlers who compete and win medals for other national teams. Because of the high level of competition within Russia, these transfers started long ago.

“Switching to another national team is difficult, it’s not just a change of passport. In Russia, you have everything: a coach, a salary, life plans. And suddenly you have to give all that up and leave for who knows where. Most likely, in your new country the level of your sport will be much lower, and the training conditions much worse. What do you do about your coach? Who knows. What about funding and sponsors? Also unclear. That’s why there are so few such athletes,” explains a Russian sports journalist.