The International Gymnastics Federation granted neutral status to 43 athletes from the IOC-sanctioned country, allowing them to compete without national affiliation. In solidarity with teammates denied the same, all the approved have collectively chosen not to participate in upcoming events.
According to FIG documents reviewed by Russian news agency TASS, the approved list includes 17 rhythmic gymnasts: Alexandra Khabibullina, Vladislava Nikolayenko, Varvara Toporova, Arina Yankovskaya, Arina Kovshova, Diana Chugunikhina, Arina Tkachuk, Ulyana Janus, Viktoria Chumakova, Anastasia Ivanova, Milena Bukina, Polina Semyonova, Kseniia Savinova, Karolina Pakhtusova, Maria Borisova, Alexandra Borisova, and Anna Vakulenko.
Another 14 athletes are from the artistic discipline: Maria Agafonova, Alena Glotova, Zlata Osokina, Ilya Zaika, Daniel Marinov, Vladislav Polyashov, Kirill Prokopiev, Grigory Klimentev, Angelina Melnikova, Lyudmila Roshchina, Anna Kalmykova, Kseniya Zelyaeva, Ranel Safiullin, and Leyla Vasilyeva.
Twelve trampoline gymnasts were also approved: Yana Lebedeva, Angela Bladtseva, Kirill Kozlov, Danila Kasimov, Sofia Alyaeva, Arina Kalyandra, Sergey Finichenko, Mikhail Zalomin, Mikhail Yuryev, Galina Begim, Maxim Didenko, and Alexandra Lyamina. An additional 30 athletes from Belarus were also granted neutral status.
Despite these approvals, the Russian Gymnastics Federation recently announced that none of its gymnasts will participate in upcoming events under the FIG banner. “All the Russian athletes… who have received neutral status have taken a decision to abstain from participating in upcoming competitions under the aegis of FIG,” the federation said in a statement. It cited “numerous groundless and prejudiced rejections” of other athletes’ neutrality applications and added that it “shares the athletes’ position.”
The neutral status system requires athletes to compete without any Russian emblems and to have no public record of supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. The FIG initially barred Russian and Belarusian athletes following the 2022 invasion, significantly impacting Russia’s participation in a sport where it has traditionally excelled.
In 2023, the FIG announced it would allow both countries’ athletes to return to international competition as “individual neutral athletes” starting 1 January 2024. However, the Russian federation initially refused to comply with the conditions. By February 2024, a shift in approach emerged when the federation’s first deputy president, Vasily Titov, told Match TV that applications had been submitted for around 100 Russian gymnasts to obtain neutral status.
