{"id":166031,"date":"2025-11-28T13:44:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"ioc-clears-figure-skater-from-belarus-to-compete-as-neutral-at-2026-olympics","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/","title":{"rendered":"IOC clears figure skater from Belarus to compete as neutral at 2026 Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1128\" height=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(Figurnoye Kataniye YouTube channel \/ Still by Pozirk)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>November 28, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Russia-born figure skater Viktoria Safonova, competing for Belarus since 2019, will participate in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as a neutral athlete, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olympics.com\/ioc\/milano-cortina-2026-individual-neutral-athletes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">reports<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel (AINERP) approved her participation &#8220;in accordance with the IOC decision and the principles established.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Born in Moscow in 2003, Safonova competes in single skating. She won six Belarusian national titles from 2019 to 2024 and competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On September 19, the IOC announced that qualified neutral athletes would compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics under the same conditions as at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Italy will host the Olympics between February 6 and 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IOC_flag_744x496-300x200.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IOC_flag_744x496-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IOC_flag_744x496.jpg 744w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> \u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> \u041e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Sport<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">\u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430, \u041e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e, Sport<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Belarusian neutral skiers banned from Olympic qualifiers<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">October 21, Pozirk. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has barred athletes from Russia and Belarus as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) from qualification events for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The FIS Council voted for the decision today. FIS manages &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/160978\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>November 28, Pozirk. Russia-born figure skater Viktoria Safonova, competing for Belarus since 2019, will participate in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as a neutral athlete, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reports.\u00a0 The Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel (AINERP) approved her participation &#8220;in accordance with the IOC decision and the principles established.&#8221; Born in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":166018,"template":"","rubric":[13,32],"class_list":["post-166031","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-society","rubric-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>IOC clears figure skater from Belarus to compete as neutral at 2026 Olympics | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"November 28, Pozirk. Russia-born figure skater Viktoria Safonova, competing for Belarus since 2019, will participate in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IOC clears figure skater from Belarus to compete as neutral at 2026 Olympics | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"November 28, Pozirk. Russia-born figure skater Viktoria Safonova, competing for Belarus since 2019, will participate in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/\"},\"headline\":\"IOC clears figure skater from Belarus to compete as neutral at 2026 Olympics\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-28T10:44:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/\"},\"wordCount\":119,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/\",\"name\":\"IOC clears figure skater from Belarus to compete as neutral at 2026 Olympics | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166031\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/safonova_figurnoe_katanie_screen_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-28T10:44:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"November 28, Pozirk. 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