OFFICIAL: IOC Ban Of Russian Teams Remains In Place In 2026
'The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place,' the IOC said in a statement on Tuesday, as reported by Reuters. 'It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team. We take note that the IIHF has confirmed that it will follow this recommendation.'
As such, no teams of Russian players, as was the case in 2018 under the name 'Olympic Athletes from Russia' and in 2022 under the name 'ROC', will be allowed to compete.
On Friday, numerous media outlets, including The Hockey News, reported on a claim by Latvian website SportaCentrs that, during its annual congress in Stockholm, the IIHF had agreed that Russian teams would not compete in the 2026 Olympic ice hockey tournaments. The federation had previously announced that Russia and Belarus would not be re-integrated into international competitions for the 2025-26 hockey season.
On Sunday, IIHF President Luc Tardif clarified the federation's position on the matter, stating that the IOC had requested a competition schedule that did not include Russian teams, and that an official announcement from the IOC that Russian teams would be excluded was imminent.
Russia Quarter-Century Teams Unveiled: A Wealth Of Talent To Choose From In the spirit of the
NHL announcing quarter-century teams for each of its 30 franchises that have played since 2000, I thought I'd try a similar exercise by country – first and second teams. It's not limited to NHL performance, although that carries a lot of weight. International play for the country also weighs heavily. To be eligible, a player needn't have necessarily played for the country at a major tournament, but he had (or has) to be eligible.
'The IOC is the organizer – we only deal with the competition (the hockey tournaments) itself,' said Tardif. 'We have been pressuring them to make a decision, one way or another, because we're getting closer to the Olympics and we need to know.'
Tardif continued, 'Recently they asked us to send them a schedule without Russia, so that's where we are. The official statement is pending but the IOC has told us that they are informing the Russian Olympic Committee that they are not participating in the Olympics.'
That statement has now come to pass.
As such, these will be the groups for Olympic ice hockey:
Men's (Feb. 11 - 22)
Group A: Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, France
Group B: Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Italy
Group C: United States, Germany, Latvia, Denmark
Women's (Feb. 5 - 19)
Group A: Canada, United States, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland
Group B: Gemany, Sweden, Japan, Italy, France
Photo: Russian players wearing "ROC" jerseys at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing © George Walker IV-Imagn Images
Latvia, Denmark, Slovakia (and maybe France) qualify for 2026 Olympics Three teams qualified for the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Sunday by winning de facto play-in games on the last day of the final qualifying tournament.
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San Francisco Chronicle
24 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Modi and Trump once called each other good friends. Now the US-India relationship is getting bumpy
NEW DELHI (AP) — The men shared bear hugs, showered praise on each other and made appearances side by side at stadium rallies — a big optics boost for two populist leaders with ideological similarities. Each called the other a good friend. In India, the bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump was seen as a relationship like no other. That is, until a series of events gummed up the works. From Trump's tariffs and India's purchase of oil from Russia to a U.S. tilt towards Pakistan, friction between New Delhi and Washington has been hard to miss. And much of it has happened far from the corridors of power and, unsurprisingly, through Trump's posts on social media. It has left policy experts wondering whether the camaraderie the two leaders shared may be a thing of the past, even though Trump has stopped short of referring to Modi directly on social media. 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Sreeram Sundar Chaulia, an expert at New Delhi's Jindal School of International Affairs, said Trump's sudden admiration for Pakistan as a great partner in counterterrorism has 'definitely soured' the mood in India. Chaulia said 'the best-case scenario is that this is just a passing Trump whim,' but he also warned that 'if financial and energy deals are indeed being struck between the U.S. and Pakistan, it will dent the U.S.-India strategic partnership and lead to loss of confidence in the U.S. in Indian eyes.' India's oil purchases from Russia are an irritant The strain in relations has also to do with oil. India had faced strong pressure from the Biden administration to cut back its oil purchases from Moscow during the early months of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Instead, India bought more, making it the second-biggest buyer of Russian oil after China. 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Boston Globe
24 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Modi and Trump once called each other good friends. Now the US-India relationship is getting bumpy.
From Trump's tariffs and India's purchase of oil from Russia to a U.S. tilt towards Pakistan, friction between New Delhi and Washington has been hard to miss. And much of it has happened far from the corridors of power and, unsurprisingly, through Trump's posts on social media. Advertisement It has left policy experts wondering whether the camaraderie the two leaders shared may be a thing of the past, even though Trump has stopped short of referring to Modi directly on social media. The dip in rapport, some say, puts a strategic bilateral relationship built over decades at risk. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'This is a testing time for the relationship,' said Ashok Malik, a former policy adviser in India's Foreign Ministry. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Simmering tensions over trade and tariffs The latest hiccup between India and the U.S. emerged last week when Trump announced that he was slapping 25% tariffs on India as well as an unspecified penalty because of India's purchasing of Russian oil. For New Delhi, such a move from its largest trading partner is expected to be felt across sectors, but it also led to a sense of unease in India — even more so when Trump, on social media, called India's economy 'dead.' Advertisement Trump's recent statements reflect his frustration with the pace of trade talks with India, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal administration thinking. The Republican president has not been pursuing any strategic realignment with Pakistan, according to the official, but is instead trying to play hardball in negotiations. 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India insists that Kashmir is India's internal issue and had opposed any third-party intervention. Last week Modi appeared to dismiss Trump's claims after India's Opposition began demanding answers from him. Modi said that 'no country in the world stopped' the fighting between India and Pakistan, but he did not name Trump. Advertisement Trump has also appeared to be warming up to Pakistan, even praising its counterterrorism efforts. Hours after levying tariffs on India, Trump announced a 'massive' oil exploration deal with Pakistan, saying that some day, India might have to buy oil from Islamabad. Earlier, he also hosted one of Pakistan's top military officials at a private lunch. Sreeram Sundar Chaulia, an expert at New Delhi's Jindal School of International Affairs, said Trump's sudden admiration for Pakistan as a great partner in counterterrorism has 'definitely soured' the mood in India. Chaulia said 'the best-case scenario is that this is just a passing Trump whim,' but he also warned that 'if financial and energy deals are indeed being struck between the U.S. and Pakistan, it will dent the U.S.-India strategic partnership and lead to loss of confidence in the U.S. in Indian eyes.' India's oil purchases from Russia are an irritant The strain in relations has also to do with oil. India had faced strong pressure from the Biden administration to cut back its oil purchases from Moscow during the early months of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Instead, India bought more, making it the second-biggest buyer of Russian oil after China. That pressure sputtered over time and the U.S. focused more on building strategic ties with India, which is seen as a bulwark against a rising China. Trump's threat to penalize India over oil, however, brought back those issues. On Sunday, the Trump administration made its frustrations over ties between India and Russia ever more public. Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House, accused India of financing Russia's war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow, saying it was 'not acceptable.' Advertisement Some experts, though, suspect Trump's remarks are mere pressure tactics. 'Given the wild fluctuations in Trump's policies,' Chaulia said, 'it may return to high fives and hugs again.' Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed reporting.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
World Aquatics Championships 2025: Leon Marchand breaks Ryan Lochte's record; Luca Urlando wins gold in butterfly
It's not a surprise that France's Léon Marchand is one of the best swimmers in the world. Marchand won four gold medals at the 2024 Olympics, destroying the competition and announcing himself as a dominant force in the sport. He took that a step further Wednesday. Marchand set a new standard in the 200m individual medley Wednesday, not only beating Ryan Lochte's record, but obliterating it by more than a second. Marchand, who won $30,000 for breaking the record, finished with a time of 1:52.69 during the semifinals Wednesday. The previous record, which was held by Lochte, was 1:54.00. Lochte set that record at the World Championships in 2011. With the win in the semifinals, Marchand will look to carry his success over to the final Thursday. Marchand won the 200m individual medley at the World Championships in both 2022 and 2023, and will look for his third gold in the event Thursday. Luca Urlando takes home gold in 200m butterfly The 200m butterfly has proved an elusive event for Team USA on the men's side following Michael Phelps' retirement. No American man had medaled in the event since 2011, Phelps' last time winning the 200m butterfly at the World Championships. But that changed Wednesday, as Luca Urlando came away with the gold. Urlando posted a 1:51:87 time, beating Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski and Australia's Harrison Turner for the top spot. Chmielewski finished second with a time of 1:52:64. Turner came in third, posting a 1:54:17 time. The win is a long time coming for Urlando, who was on the rise before a shoulder injury derailed him in 2022. With the win, Urlando becomes the first American man to pick up a gold medal at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships. The team struggled early at the event due to an illness that caused a number of swimmers to pull out of events or post slower times than usual. The team has recovered since then, with the women leading the way. Gretchen Walsh and Katie Ledecky are among the Team USA women to pick up gold medals at the World Championships so far. Jack Alexy sets new American record in 100m freestyle American Jack Alexy looked strong during 100m freestyle prelims Wednesday. Alexy turned in an incredible time of 46.81, setting an American record. Alexy's time narrowly beat Caeleb Dressel's 46.96 from the 2019 World Championships. It was an impressive performance by Alexy, but it didn't result in a medal ... yet. Alexy still needs to compete in the final. If he can recapture his semifinal performance, Alexy could walk away from the 100m freestyle with a medal. His job did get somewhat easier Wednesday after 100m freestyle favorite Pan Zhanle was surprisingly eliminated after a poor performance in the semis.
