13 Russian athletes took part in the 2026 Olympic Games under a neutral flag. Former biathlon star Anton Shipulin says: The other nations were lucky that there were so few of them, otherwise they wouldn’t have had a chance.
According to former Russian biathlete Anton Shipulin, the other nations can consider themselves lucky that, with a few exceptions, no Russian athletes were allowed to take part in the 2026 Olympic Games.
He didn’t see all the Olympic competitions, “but I kept an eye on our people,” Shipulin told the state news agency “TASS.”
The 13 chosen ones did well, the former biathlete continued, “even though they hadn’t taken part in international competitions for a long time.”
What is beyond question for him is that while Russia and its entire team were present in Italy, things would have looked bleak for everyone else. “If the whole team had been there, I think we would have beaten everyone,” he boldly claimed.
Ultimately, the neutral athletes from Russia won a medal at the 2026 Games. Ski mountaineer Nikita Filippov secured second place and silver in the sprint.
Ex-biathlon star has to give up gold medal
Shipulin, in turn, even lost a medal during the Olympics. He and the Russian relay team were stripped of their Olympic victory in Sochi because of doping. Instead, the German team was subsequently crowned Olympic champions in Antholz.
Shipulin himself made headlines because he refused to give back his gold medal. “No, for what? I fought for it. It’s mine, I won’t give it back,” he told “MatchTV”.
He also announced on social media that he only wanted to return the precious metal when the ban on Russian athletes was lifted.
