Winter Paralympics 2026: Germans protest against Russia during medal ceremony
German cross-country skiers turned their backs on gold medal-winning Russian athletes on the Winter Paralympic Games podium in protest against the country’s participation in the Games.
Russian athletes are competing under their own country’s flag at a Paralympic Games for the first time since 2014, after the International Paralympic Committee lifted the suspension in the country in September.
Russia and its athletes were banned following the state-sponsored doping scandal, followed by further sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
On Tuesday, Anastasiia Bagiian and her guide Sergei Siniakin won gold in the women’s sprint classic blind race; This was the second of Russia’s three gold medals so far at the Games.
While the national anthem was playing, German silver medalist Linn Kazmaier and his guide Florian Baumann turned their backs to the Russians.
Speaking to German publication Bild, external Kazmaier said: “The medal ceremony felt completely strange. [Russians]I don’t know if maybe they support the system in Russia as little as we do.
“Maybe they’re really good people we can be friends with. It’s such a shame that they’re so overshadowed by politics.”
“So we decided not to take off our hats and point at the flag because we don’t support it.”
