Tanya Polyakovska 18:44, 29.10.25 UNIAN
Ukrainian athletes are preparing for the competition as much as the war allows, and some are preparing abroad
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been allowed to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Ukrainian athletes already have clear instructions on how they should behave if they come across representatives of the Russian Federation and Belarus at the tournament. Vadym Gutzeit, president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, said this in a comment to UNIAN.
Answering a question about the biggest challenges for Ukraine at the upcoming Winter Olympics, he noted that “there is one challenge for all Ukrainians – it is war.”
“Athletes are preparing as it is possible today to prepare within the country during air raids, during missiles and bombs. Therefore, it is difficult, but no more difficult than for all Ukrainians living in Ukraine,” said the NOC president and added that athletes in some sports are training abroad.
Gutzeit also recalled that Russian and Belarusian athletes will participate in the Olympics only in a neutral status.
“There will be few of them. Because hockey is not allowed at all, sledding is not allowed at all, biathlon is not allowed at all. That is, there will be a very limited number of them,” he said.
Also, when asked whether Ukrainian athletes have any instructions on how to behave in the event of a meeting with Russian and Belarusian athletes, the NOC president noted that “all this has been worked out since the Summer Olympics.”
“That is, we don’t greet each other, we don’t shake hands, we don’t stand on the podium together, we don’t communicate. That is, all of this has already been worked out and has already been communicated to the teams, and all the athletes are aware,” Gutzeit said.
In addition, when asked whether Ukrainian athletes are psychologically ready for such meetings, he noted that “we need to be ready to perform at the Olympics, represent Ukraine and win.” “Therefore, there is no need to pay attention to these athletes,” the NOC president emphasized.
Ukraine at the Winter Olympics
As reported, the Ukrainian national figure skating team previously approved the composition of the team that will participate in the Olympic qualifying competitions, where licenses for the Winter Olympic Games will be played.
It was noted that Ukraine would be represented in three of the four sports – except for women’s skating. The Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation refused the athlete’s application for this tournament.
At the Lombardia Trophy challenger in Bergamo, neither Sofia Grigorenko nor Taisiya Spesivtseva, who were competing against each other to make the squad, met the technical minimum for the European Championship.
Yes, for the first time in 16 years and for the second time in history, Ukraine will not compete in this discipline at the Olympics. The 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver were the first for which our athletes did not qualify in women’s skating.
The cockroaches should be banned. But, the IOC is deeply corrupt. That’s two reasons why I boycott anything that has to do with the Olympics.