Thirteen Russian athletes will compete under their national flag and anthem at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, marking another step in the return of Russia to international sport, Made In Africa Sport reports.
Russia’s sports minister and Olympic committee president Mikhail Degtyarev confirmed the delegation on Thursday, with the athletes set to compete across eight sports from 31 October to 13 November.
According to Inside The Games, the delegation includes cyclists Stepan Bortnik and Angelina Novolodskaya, judoka Anastasia Dobrovolskaya and equestrian Yaroslav Pushkin.
Swimming will be represented by Bogdan Toropkin and Serafima Fokina, while Maria Ozhigova will compete in skateboarding.
Daniil Smirnov and Polina Dmitriyeva will represent Russia in gymnastics, with Bashir Adzhiyev and Elina Tkhamakova competing in taekwondo.
Artyom Blyuske will compete in wushu and Ulyana Belykh in fencing.
Ten coaches will accompany the athletes in Senegal.
IOC lifts Russian restrictions ahead Dakar 2026
The participation follows a major change in the International Olympic Committee‘s position on Russian athletes.
In July, the IOC Executive Board provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, which had been in place since 12 October 2023.
The IOC said the decision followed an assessment by its Legal Affairs Commission after the Russian Olympic Committee confirmed that it no longer included regional sports organisations from territories under the jurisdiction of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee.
The Russian Olympic Committee also confirmed that it would not conduct activities in those territories.
As a result, the IOC said its previous recommended conditions of participation for Russian athletes and teams, including protective measures, were no longer applicable.
Those recommendations had been introduced following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The IOC had initially recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be excluded from international competitions. In March 2023, it instead recommended that eligible athletes could return as Individual Neutral Athletes.
That framework prohibited national symbols, including flags and anthems, and included conditions relating to athletes’ public support for the war and links to the military.
The IOC’s July decision removed those recommended restrictions for Russian athletes, although it stressed that all athletes returning to international competition must continue to meet the relevant anti-doping requirements.
The Olympic body also said the Russian Olympic Committee must ensure that athletes selected for the Olympic Games meet the Olympic Charter’s requirements, including serving as role models who respect and promote a peaceful society through sport.
Flag decision remains separate
The IOC’s July announcement did not itself settle the use of Russian national symbols at future Olympic Games.
It said a decision on the display of the Russian flag, anthem, colours and other national identifications at the Olympic Games would be taken at the appropriate time.
Dakar 2026, however, is being held under the Youth Olympic Games framework, and Russian athletes have now been cleared to compete under their national identity.
The IOC has also maintained that it will not organise IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.
The organisation said it continued to stand in solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine.
The return of Russian athletes at Dakar therefore comes against a wider shift in international sports policy, with the IOC seeking to provide athletes with access to international competition while maintaining separate measures concerning its relationship with the Russian state.
Thirteen Russian athletes will now take their place in Senegal as the country hosts the first Olympic event on African soil.