Russians are “celebrating” their return to the Olympic Games. Shocking news!

It must be remembered that in the 21st century, the example of the Winter Olympic Games and the subsequent Russian attack on Ukraine is, unfortunately, not an exception.

Digging into history, in 2008 – when the capital of China also hosted the event, although it was the summer Olympics – the Georgian-Ossetian-Russian war broke out. Six years later, on the occasion of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the Russians annexed Crimea and attacked the eastern part of Ukraine. The European Union or NATO were supposed to respond, but they did nothing that could force Vladimir Putin and his troops to withdraw.

In 2022, the Russian dictator appeared at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Warm greetings to the Russian Olympians from the stadium’s tribune of honor. And when the sports competition ended, several dozen hours later – on February 24, 2022, to be precise – there was an attack by about 100,000 Russian soldiers on Ukraine.

TASS about Russia’s return to the Olympics. “The Times” news is inevitable

The Russian news agency TASS reported that Russia is close to a high-profile return to the Olympic family. The Russians refer to the words written by Owen Slot, a valued journalist of “The Times”. In his opinion, signals such as those coming from the Paralympic world in recent days clearly indicate a change in approach towards Russia.

“It now seems inevitable that a Russian flag will be present at the Games in Los Angeles and Russians will be present at the medal classification,” wrote Slot, quoted by TASS.

The Russians immediately communicate every foreign publication of this type, even a few sentences regarding the return – in a broader context. “Celebrating” the issue of taking up this topic, which seemed unrealistic just a dozen or so months ago. And yet it may actually be more and more likely, for example at the aforementioned Los Angeles 2028 summer games.

Will the Russians actually return to the Olympic arenas? This cannot be ruled out in the future. There are more and more examples of pushing this idea. Recently, among others: Volleyball authorities decided that Russian youth teams will be allowed to compete internationally.

Moreover, the International Paralympic Committee allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the 14th Paralympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo under their own national symbols.

The reaction from the Polish side was immediate. Representatives of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism decided to boycott the opening ceremony of the event in which they were originally supposed to take part.

Winter Winter 2026: Four Olympic medals for the Polish team

The Games on the Apennine Peninsula were quite successful for the Polish team. Looking at the medal achievements, this is the best performance of the Olympic team in red and white colors in over 12 years.

Medals for the Polish national team during the 2026 Winter Olympics were won mainly by ski jumpers. One of them, a 19-year-old Olympic debutant – Kacper Tomasiak – won three of them. The leader of coach Maciej Maciusiak’s team was silver on the normal hill, bronze on the large hill in Predazzo and again the Olympic vice-champion in the duet competition. In the latter case, Paweł Wąsek formed a two-person team with Tomasiak.

We also cannot forget about the first medal for Polish men at the Winter Olympics since 2014. Vladimir Semirunniy reached for it. “Władek” became the Olympic vice-champion in the 10 km distance.

In its history of participation in the Winter Olympics, the Polish team has won a total of 27 medals – seven gold, ten silver and ten bronze, respectively. Interestingly, the first bronze medal for Poland was won by Franciszek Gąsienica-Groń (Nordic combined) almost exactly 70 years ago, during the Olympic Games in… Cortina d’Ampezzo. This year, history has come full circle in a beautiful Italian-Polish Olympic circle.

Speaking of history, another special story happened during Winter Olympics 2026. Namely, Klaudia Adamek was the first in the history of Polish Olympism to take part in both the summer and winter games. A former athlete and participant of the Olympic Games in Tokyo (2021) in the 4×100 meters relay, she completed the Olympic set by starting in Italy (2026) in the bobsled doubles.