“In order to ensure the safety of athletes in all competitions, the FIS Council has decided unanimously that, with immediate effect, Russian and Belarusian athletes may not participate in FIS competitions at all levels until the end of the season,” the ski federation said in a statement.
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The FIS originally “only” canceled the remaining World Cup races in Russia due to the invasion, but did not ban the Russians and Belarusians from racing. She wanted to allow them to start in the positions of neutral athletes. Now it has strengthened, which was appreciated by the President of the Ski Association of the Czech Republic Lukáš Heřmanský.
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“We support the decision of the International Ski Federation as the Association of Skiers of the Czech Republic, it is in full accordance with our position. In the current situation, it is the only possible decision, I can not imagine that it would be different. “Everything else is secondary at the moment,” he said in a press release.
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The tightened measure, for example, means that Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Hösflot Klaebo will almost certainly win a crystal globe for the overall World Cup championship, as his only real competitor was Russian Alexander Bolshunov, who also had a significant loss in the first place. In the women’s rankings, Natalya Neryaevova will almost certainly lose her leading position.
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In the parallel snowboard disciplines, Sofija Nadyršinová and Dmitrij Loginov will not be able to strive to move from the third place in the SP for the remaining three races of the season.
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The FIS verdict was preceded by a decision by Norway to ban Russian and Belarusian cross-country skiers from starting in the World Championships, which will take place in Drammen and Holmenkollen, due to the attack on Ukraine.
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“Today we informed the International Ski Federation (FIS) that, regardless of its position, it will race in Norway without Russians and Belarusians,” Reuters quoted the Norwegian Ski Association as saying. “We hoped that the federation itself would do so. We do not want to wait any longer,” said Erik Röste, chairman of the Norwegian association.
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Shortly afterwards, the head of Russian cross-country skiing, Jelena Vyyalbe, announced in the domestic media that the international season for the Russian national team had ended. “We will take part in domestic competitions. If we organize any other competitions instead of World Cup races, we will agree on this with the Ministry of Sports,” Vjalbe told the RIA Novosti server.
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In Drammen, men’s and women’s sprints are a classic technique on Thursday. The women’s 30 km race will take place in Holmenkollen on Saturday, and the men will run in their 50s on Sunday. Further races are scheduled for Fallun, Sweden, and then it is time for the World Cup finals. It was originally scheduled to take place on 18-20. March in Tyumen, but the Russian organizers were taken away and still not decided on a replacement venue.
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Klaebo leads the World Championship with a lead of 497 points over Bolshunov, the third Iivo Niskanen from Finland lags behind the Norwegian leader by 790 points. Něprjajevová has a good 278 points ahead of American Jessie Diggins.
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The FIS previously also canceled cross-country skiing competitions in Sunny Valley and ski jumping in Nizhny Tagil (March 18-20) and Tchaikovsky (March 25-27).
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