Cross-country skiing: Russia could cost Sweden an Olympic quota spot: “It’s possible”

Russian cross-country skiers are set to return to the World Cup this weekend, which could reduce Sweden’s number of men’s quota places for the 2026 Olympics.

On Wednesday, the former junior world champion Saveliy Korostelev was granted neutral status and cleared to compete in the Davos World Cup. This matters for Olympic quotas because Russia can now fight for one of the ten remaining “quota places” reserved for nations that did not qualify via last season’s results.

A large portion of quota places has already been awarded based on last season: Sweden’s women have the maximum eight Olympic tickets, while the men currently have seven. The final ten spots are set aside for nations not already qualified, but if all ten are not filled—because athletes fail to achieve the required level—those places revert to the highest-ranked nations from earlier results. On the men’s side, Norway would be first in line, followed by Sweden.

Five nations (Colombia, Israel, Morocco, Lebanon and Venezuela) have already achieved sufficient FIS points. Swedish national team manager Anders Byström assumes Korostelev—now competing for one of the last ten spots—will reach the necessary standard: “Three hundred FIS points is quite a high threshold, so I assume any [Russian] who starts will make it.” He also notes there are additional criteria, and it remains to be seen whether meeting the FIS-points threshold will automatically translate into Olympic participation.

Sweden now has to hope that at most three athletes (in addition to Korostelev) from non‑qualified countries achieve under 300 FIS points. Byström says the team may have to wait until around January 18–19 to know the final quota distribution, adding that Sweden also had seven men’s places at the last Olympics, so the impact may be limited.

Asked how it would feel to lose an Olympic slot to a Russian athlete, Byström points to the recent Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision enabling neutral participation: “It’s a CAS decision, so we have to abide by it.” SVT expert Anders Blomquist calls the development “really sour and sad” from a Swedish perspective and a nightmare scenario for the Swedish skier affected.

The article also links to related coverage on how FIS assesses neutrality and the list of Russian and Belarusian athletes cleared to compete.