The medal-winning skier from the north Russian region of Komi is one of six athletes to compete under the Russian tricolour in the Paralympics 2026.
Ivan Golubkov, 30, is among the few Russian athletes to have qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games.
Golubkov and his teammates are set to compete under the Russian national flag — the country’s first appearance at the Paralympics under its own flag since 2014.
A six-time world champion in cross-country skiing and biathlon, Golubkov hails from the town of Inta in the Komi Republic. He currently represents the Moscow Academy of Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon, a club operated by the Moscow City Department of Sports.
Milano Cortina will mark his Paralympic debut.
Russia was barred from the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games, which opened just days after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Following the ban, Golubkov and other members of the national team were invited to the Kremlin for a meeting with dictator Vladimir Putin. Photographs from the event showed Golubkov seated in the front row facing the Russian ruler.
Russia’s and Belarus’s return to the Paralympics under their national flags has sparked tension within the international sports community.
After extensive lobbying, Moscow secured a partial return to the Olympic Games and full reinstatement to the Paralympics. In September 2025, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) voted to restore the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national committees.
The decision has drawn protests. Canada, Poland and several other countries have announced they will boycott the March 6 opening ceremony.
“We stand in solidarity with Ukrainian athletes and the Ukrainian people. The Canadian Paralympic Committee argued and voted against the reinstatement of the Russian and Belarusian National Paralympic Committees at the IPC General Assembly in September, and we continue to believe the conditions have not been met for their reinstatement,” the Canadian Paralympic Committee said in a statement.
The Games will take place as Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine enters its fifth year.
At the same time, the Russian Paralympic Committee has deepened its cooperation with the country’s armed forces. An unknown number of Russian soldiers have been seriously wounded during the war, and the committee has sought to recruit some of them into elite sports.
Committee representatives are traveling across Russia to hold what they describe as “motivational meetings, master classes and Paralympic lessons” in hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
“Since the beginning of the special military operation, the Russian Paralympic Committee has been actively involved in the rehabilitation of soldiers and officers who have been wounded or disabled on the battlefield,” the committee said on social media.
“Today, veterans are actively joining the ranks of athletes, participating in training events, performing well in regional and national competitions, and joining the national teams of the Russian Federation in a number of sports,” it added.
According to the committee, war veterans are now “an integral part of the Russian Paralympic movement.”
