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Russian teams will remain banned from World Cup bobsled races this season, and presumably the sport’s world championships as well, after one of sliding’s governing bodies voted Tuesday to extend the sanctions stemming from that country’s war with Ukraine.
Some Russian sliders may still compete in skeleton and monobob events this season, the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said, but only as individual neutral athletes and “subject to … eligibility and vetting conditions.”
The neutrality issue is paramount in the process of determining which Russian athletes will be allowed to compete, just as it was last winter as the fields for the Milan-Cortina Olympics were being set. Certain sports federations have let Russian athletes compete, but only after they are cleared by an independent review process to ensure they have not publicly supported the war and are not affiliated with Russia’s military or other forces.
The reason skeleton and monobob are considered different from two- or four-man bobsled is simply because of the lack of a team aspect. There is only one person on a skeleton sled – the discipline where sliders go headfirst down the track — and one woman in a monobob.
“After thorough discussion and our presentation of facts about the involvement of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation and Russian athletes in actively supporting the actions of their government, and in some cases even their affiliation with the Russian army, a fair decision was adopted by a convincing majority of votes,” Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych wrote in a statement posted on social media.
Heraskevych, a likely medal contender at the Milan-Cortina Games, was barred from racing in his event last February after refusing a last-minute plea by the International Olympic Committee to not use a helmet honoring more than 20 athletes and coaches killed since Russia invaded his country more than four years ago.
The first World Cup bobsled and skeleton races of the season are Nov. 27 at Altenberg, Germany.
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