What country is AIN in the Olympics, and why can’t Russia compete as ROC in the 2026 Winter Games?
As the 2026 Winter Olympic Games kick off, at least a dozen athletes will represent AIN.
The three-letter acronym isn’t an abbreviation of a country delegation — its athletes are tied to Russia, whose nation’s flag will not be present following a series of doping scandals and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
AIN athletes will also include competitors from Belarus, which was banned as a country in Paris 2024 over its involvement in the war.
What does AIN stand for?
AIN is an acronym of the French term “Athlètes Individuels Neutres,” meaning “Individual Neutral Athletes.” French is one of the two official languages of the Olympic Games, along with English.
Athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport who qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games will compete under AIN, which has its own teal-colored flag and anthem. The anthem is a melody without lyrics.
AIN was first introduced ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics as a replacement for the Russian Olympic Committee.
International Olympic Committee
Why isn’t Russia competing as ROC in the 2026 Winter Olympics?
The International Olympic Committee suspended the ROC in October 2023, months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The suspension was the result of the ROC’s decision to include regional sports organizations under the authority of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, according to the IOC.
The ROC’s action was “a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as recognised by the IOC in accordance with the Olympic Charter,” the IOC said.
Why did Russia have to start competing as ROC in the Olympics?
Russian athletes previously competed under ROC at the COVID-delayed Tokyo 2020 Summer Games after the World Anti-Doping Agency sanctioned Russia.
WADA voted in 2019 for Russia to be ruled out of the next Olympic cycle — as well as barring Russian government officials from attending any major events — but allowed athletes with Russian passports to compete if they could demonstrate that they were not part of what WADA believes was a state-sponsored system of doping.
Russia also lost the right to host, or even bid, for tournaments for four years.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport later reduced WADA’s ban on Russia to two years and Russian athletes last competed under ROC in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to finish out the sanction.
What happened with the ROC ice skating doping scandal in the 2022 Olympics?
At Beijing 2022, the ROC came under scrutiny after Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old superstar figure skater, tested positive for a banned heart medication from a sample taken ahead of the Winter Games.
A positive result for metabolic agent trimetazidine was reported only after Valieva helped the ROC win gold in the figure skating team, over the United States and Japan. It delayed medal ceremonies and raised concerns due to Russia’s history with doping.
An Olympic official said there was a mix-up with Valieva’s grandfather’s heart medication.
Valieva, who was a favorite to win the women’s individual event, was temporarily suspended; she was later cleared to participate in the single free skating program. She finished fourth and was seen breaking out in tears following the competition. Her ROC teammates Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova took gold and silver.
The International Skating Union later stripped ROC of its team gold.
At Milano Cortina, there are two quota places, one male and one female, in figure skating for AINs with a Russian passport and they are not eligible for team events, according to ISU rules.
Have any other countries been banned from competing in the Olympics?
Over the decades, multiple countries have been barred from competing in the Olympics by the IOC.
North Korea was suspended from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics after it skipped out on the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, citing a need to protect athletes from the “world public health crisis caused by COVID-19.”
In 2015, the IOC said it suspended the Kuwait Olympic Committee “to protect the Olympic Movement in Kuwait from undue government interference.” Kuwaiti athletes were able to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics as “Independent Olympic Athletes,” and the suspension was lifted in 2019.
The IOC has also suspended and lifted suspension for several other countries over political interference or noncompliance with the Olympic Charter, including Brazil, India and Iraq.
Milan Winter Olympics 2026
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