Japan makes history in pairs figure skating. So do many Russian-born skaters.
| Milan
When Anastasiia Metelkin and Luka Berulava stepped on the podium at the Milan Ice Skating Arena Monday night to bow in their matching bedazzled teal as silver medals were hung around their necks, they made history. They had won Georgia鈥檚 first-ever Olympic Winter Games medal, with a little help from its neighbor.
Russia is banned from competing as a country at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. But in the Milan Ice Skating Arena, the longtime figure skating force is about as inconspicuous as a great Russian bear.
On the figure skating pairs medal podium Monday evening, half of the six skaters standing before the crowd with medals around their necks were Russian-born athletes. The gold medal went to Japan鈥檚 Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who had a world-record-breaking free skate score聽and finished 10 points ahead. Silver went to the Georgian pair, Ms. Metelkin and Mr. Berulava, both Russian-born skaters who train in Perm, Russia, with Russian coaches. And the bronze went to the Germans, Minerva Fabienne Hase, born in Berlin, and her partner Nikita Volodin, a newly minted German citizen.
Why We Wrote This
Russia has been banned from competing under its flag since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. But in pairs skating, an event that it has dominated for decades, more Russian-born athletes are choosing to compete for other countries.
鈥淚 was accepted very well by the Georgians, and I want to do my very best to represent this flag and country,鈥� said Ms. Metelkina earlier this week.
Between the doping scandals in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and its continued war in Ukraine, Russia has been banned from competing under its flag since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. Some of its athletes have chosen to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes, or Athl猫te Individuel Neutre (AIN), the carry-over name from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. But in figure skating, more of the Russian-born athletes have chosen to compete for other countries. This is particularly true in the pairs skating event, which Russia has historically dominated, winning gold in 13 out of the past 16 Winter Games, with plenty of silver and bronze medals to boot.
There are no AIN figure skating pairs competing in the Milan Cortina Games. Instead, 11 Russian-born skaters are competing for Armenia, Australia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Poland.
The tentacles of Russia鈥檚 deep history with figure skating extend through the arena in other ways. Russian coaches hover at the edge of the rink. All three American skaters competing in the male individual events 鈥� Ilia Malinin, Andrew Torgashev, and Maxim Naumov 鈥� are children of former professional skaters, either born in Russia or who represented the country in competition. Adeliia Petrosian, the sole female individual AIN skater, is Russia鈥檚 best bet for the first AIN medal of the Games later this week.
This has led to some record-breaking appearances in Milan, with Russian-born skaters helming the first pair teams from Armenia and the Netherlands, for example. The Russian-born Hungarian pair, who came in fourth and split their time between Sochi and Budapest, gave the country its first appearance in the event in 70 years.
鈥淚 feel cool because I am the first pair skater [from] Armenia,鈥� Karina Akopova, who competed for Russia with her partner Nikita Rakhmanin before switching to represent Armenia in 2025, tells the Monitor after her short program. 鈥淭he whole country says thank you for skating and improving the sport in our country.鈥�
How common is country switching among Olympic athletes?
Country switching isn鈥檛 uncommon in Olympic competition, especially for athletes from winter sports powerhouses who have to compete for quota spots against some of the best athletes in their sport. Think alpine skier Sarah Schleper, who represented the U.S. at four Olympics in the early 2000s before retiring and then coming back to ski for Mexico.
In pairs skating, country switching has long been necessary regardless of Olympic quotas, as finding the right partner, with the right chemistry and skill set, can sometimes require an international search. Russian-born skater Ioulia Chtchetinina, for example, obtained Hungarian citizenship in 2020 to compete with her then-partner. At the time, she commented that it was her third citizenship, since she grew up in Switzerland. Then, in 2025, she applied for and was granted Polish citizenship to compete in the Olympics with her Polish partner.
Athletes must 鈥溾�� to represent it in the Olympics, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This can lead to paperwork scrambles ahead of the Games, given that only one of the partners must be a citizen to compete for a country in International Skating Union competitions. The top U.S. pairs skaters, Boston-based Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, ranked 6th in the world, were unable to compete in Milan because Ms. Efimova, who was born in Finland and has represented both Russia and Germany in international competitions, did not obtain her U.S. citizenship in time.
The whole situation left the pair, who are also married, 鈥渨ith some kind of hunger鈥� to make the 2030 U.S. Olympic team, Ms. Efimova told the Associated Press. 鈥淸If] we make it in four years to the Olympics, I think it would be even more valuable, .鈥�
There are also murmurs here in Italy that Russia could soon be welcomed back. In her opening speech ahead of the Games, IOC President Kirsty Coventry spoke about how 鈥渙ur game is sport,鈥� not politics. And late last year, the IOC recommended that youth athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport should 鈥渘o longer be restricted in their access鈥� to competitions in both individual and team sports.
How long has Russia been banned from the Games?
Russia was first banned from the 2018, 2021, and 2022 Olympic Games following an IOC investigation into the country鈥檚 鈥渟ystematic manipulation of the anti-doping system鈥� during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, which Russia denies. Individual athletes continued to compete under the titles 鈥淥lympic Athletes from Russia鈥� (OAR) and later 鈥淩ussian Olympic Committee鈥� (ROC). The doping ban was set to expire in December 2022, clearing the way for the country鈥檚 comeback in Paris 2024.
But days after the 2022 closing ceremony in Beijing, Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine 鈥� a violation, says the IOC, of the Olympic Truce, which calls for a halt to hostilities one week before the Opening Ceremony and ends one week after the closing of the Paralympic Games. As with the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, individual athletes from Russia and Belarus, a nation that supports Russia鈥檚 war against Ukraine, may compete as AIN athletes, but with stipulations. Only individuals can compete under AIN, meaning there are no Russian hockey players or curlers here in Italy. And it is up to the international federations in each sport to decide whether AIN athletes may compete.
Some federations, such as those that oversee bobsled and biathlon, banned AIN athletes outright ahead of the 2026 Winter Games. The skating federation permitted AIN participation, while Russia rebutted and ultimately won an overturn of the bans imposed by the luge and skiing and snowboarding federations. Permitted athletes must pass a screening process where the IOC reviews athletes鈥� social media to confirm they have not been tied to the war or vocally supportive of Russia鈥檚 war against Ukraine. Russia鈥檚 cross-country skiing gold medalist Alexander Bolshunov, for example, was barred from competing because he participated in a pro-war rally in 2022 and is a captain in the Russian army.
In addition, Russian or Belarusian athletes have a narrower qualification window within their sports. In figure skating, Russian and Belarusian skaters were given one opportunity to qualify for the Games. But no pair skaters or ice dancing couples were permitted to compete at the Beijing qualifier. In the end, the IOC granted only three single skaters 鈥� Ms. Petrosian, Viktoriya Safonova from Belarus, and Petr Gumennik from Russia 鈥� AIN participation status in Milan.
Altogether, 20 AIN athletes 鈥� 13 from Russia and 7 from Belarus 鈥� are competing at this year鈥檚 Games across skiing, skating, luge, and ski mountaineering events. With less than a week to go in the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, no AIN athlete has yet to win a medal.
But the best chance could come from Ms. Petrosian.
Although Ms. Petrosian has been banned from International Skating Union competitions for the past few years, the 18-year-old has won three consecutive Russia Figure Skating Championships, in 2024, 2025, and 2026, and she placed first in the Beijing qualifier. She is known for landing triple axels, and in 2022, Ms. Petrosian became the first female skater to land a quadruple loop in competition.
Her test will come later this week.
At the Milan Skating Rink Monday evening, Mr. Berulava, holding his new silver medal while speaking with reporters after the medal ceremony, has 鈥渘o words鈥� to describe his victory.
He has said Georgian is his first language. Mr. Berulava, who was born in Moscow to Georgian parents fleeing war in their home country, still has family in Georgia and an apartment in Tbilisi. But when asked by the Monitor how it feels to win a medal for Georgia, he pauses and then asks, 鈥淐an I answer in Russian?鈥�
