A pair of German Paralympians snubbed their Russian rivals during an awkward medal ceremony on Tuesday.
Linn Kazmaier, 19, and her guide Florian Baumann, 25, protested the readmission of Russian athletes under their own flag after winning silver in the cross-country skiing in Italy.
While the Russian anthem played following Anastasiia Bagiian and Sergei Siniakin’s winning of the gold medal, Kazmaier and Baumann turned their backs to the victors in a quiet but powerful gesture.
‘The awards ceremony felt completely strange,’ Kazmaier, who is visually impaired, told BILD. ‘I don’t know the people, I don’t know: Maybe they don’t support the system in Russia either. Maybe they’re really nice people we could actually be friends with.
‘But it’s just such a shame that politics overshadows everything. So we decided to keep our hats on and not turn towards the flags because we don’t support them.’
Baumann added: ‘Four years ago in Beijing, we had a fantastic exchange with the Ukrainians. We wanted to show our solidarity with them.
German cross-country skiers snubbed their Russian rivals during the medal ceremony at the Winter Paralympics on Tuesday
Linn Kazmaier and Florian Baumann staged a quiet but powerful protest in Italy
‘This isn’t about the Russian athletes. It’s difficult for many of them right now, but I simply don’t think it’s right that the IPC decided Russia could compete here under its own flag, with its own anthem, and with its full contingent, while the Ukrainians are also here.’
The Germans also refused a customary victory selfie with their Russian counterparts.
The move comes after the German delegation boycotted the opening ceremony of the Paralympics in Verona in solidarity with Ukraine.
The 2026 Winter Paralympics is the first time Russian athletes have competed under their own flag at a Games in 12 years, with the nation allocated slots across three disciplines.
The team includes one woman and one man in para alpine skiing, one woman and one man in para cross-country skiing, and two male snowboarders.
It marks a significant return for Russia, which was first banned from the Paralympics in 2016 following revelations of a state-sponsored doping programme.
The country was then suspended again in 2022 after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian athletes are allowed to compete under their own flag for the first time in 12 years
The last time Russian athletes competed under their own flag at a Winter Paralympics was in Sochi in 2014, when the country hosted both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Since then, any Russian competitors have taken part under a neutral banner.
IPC president Andrew Parsons previously insisted participation was ‘not linked to participation in wars’, but acknowledged Russia and Belarus had used Paralympic sport to promote what Moscow termed its ‘special operation’.
He said there was now ‘less evidence’ of the Games being used to promote the war.
