Skier made history after Winter Olympics ban and fleeing country | Other | Sport
A skier who was forced to flee her homeland because of her family’s political views has made history by competing for a refugee team. Belarusian biathlete Darya Dolidovich was prevented by her own nation from competing at the Winter Olympics in Beijing four years ago before seeking sanctuary in Poland.
Dolidovich, just 17 at the time, and her family feared persecution after her father, Sergei, participated in demonstrations against the re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Critics of Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, alleged the election was manipulated. Sergei said at the time: “Darya has been stripped of her right to take part in competitions. I don’t see the possibility of her continuing her career in Belarus.
“We could be accused of staging a demonstration and shouting [opposition] slogans, then just be sent to prison. Three months ago, I couldn’t have imagined, even in a nightmare, that I would end up leaving my country.”
After relocating to Poland, Darya has managed to restart her promising career in biathlon, a discipline that merges cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. Now 21, she recently became the first biathlete in history to compete for the Biathlon Refugee Team (BRT), formed in 2024 to assist athletes unable to compete for their home nations owing to war or fear of political persecution.
She made her first appearance for the team at a Biathlon World Cup round in Oberhof, Germany last month. Amid a large group of competitors, Darya secured 68th place in the women’s 7.5km sprint event, demonstrating impressive shooting skills by missing only two out of the 10 targets.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, restrictions have been imposed on Russian and Belarusian athletes. They have been permitted to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in northern Italy, but only under stringent conditions as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN).
Competitors are not allowed to represent the Russian or Belarusian flags, nor are their national anthems played. Instead, they utilise a teal flag with a circular AIN emblem and a specially commissioned instrumental anthem.
To gain clearance from the IOC, athletes must demonstrate that they have not publicly endorsed the invasion of Ukraine and have no ties with the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies.
Participation is restricted to individual events. This means Russian and Belarusian teams are entirely excluded from team sports such as ice hockey and curling.
For the 2026 Winter Games, only 20 athletes (13 Russians and seven Belarusians) fulfilled the qualification and neutrality standards to compete across sports like figure skating and freestyle skiing.
Dolidovich didn’t make the cut. However, considering her relative youth, she will undoubtedly aspire to fulfil her Olympic dream in the future, possibly at the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps.
