World Athletics excluded the Russian and Belarusian U18 teams from the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games. The Russian Athletics Federation has responded with the following statement, including testimony from an affected athlete.
While Athletics Illustrated may take the positive in favour of banning Russia and Belarus for systematic doping and the war on Ukraine, banning U18 athletes may not be the most appropriate course of action.
Statement from the Russian Athletics Federation
RusAF expresses profound disappointment at the exclusion of Russian youth athletes from the athletics competition at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games (Dakar 2026).
The IOC-endorsed position was clear in its direction: young athletes holding Russian or Belarusian passports should no longer be restricted from international youth competitions. That principle should apply to Dakar 2026.
We recognise that International Federations set eligibility criteria for their sports. However, while several federations have taken steps to uphold young athletes’ fundamental right to access sport, this has enabled World Athletics to pursue its own exclusionary agenda in the face of clear and just directions from the IOC. This activism is only detrimental to youth sports, with the result being that Russian young athletes will be denied the opportunity to compete at these Games, and their counterparts denied the opportunity to experience true competition.
These athletes have trained, qualified, and earned the right to aspire to the highest level of their age group. They represent a broad array of individuals, each with their own ambitions and achievements. Excluding them because of their nationality closes a vital opportunity at a formative point in their sporting lives, and sends a damaging message about whether young people can be judged on their own conduct and performance. The consequences extend far beyond Dakar. Today’s young athletes are tomorrow’s elite competitors, and denying them opportunities to develop and compete internationally risks limiting their potential and future careers.
The result of allowing World Athletics to stymie these young talents also diminishes the competition for every athlete set to compete in Dakar. Russian athletes have been a serious presence in Youth Olympic athletics: they won three gold medals in Singapore in 2010, four gold and two silver in Nanjing in 2014, and four further medals in Buenos Aires in 2018. Their absence deprives fellow competitors of the chance to test themselves against established, high-performing peers. A competition without some of its strongest athletes is a reduced test of excellence.
The IOC’s youth participation principle offered a different course to what has been applied under World Athletics’ direction, specifically for young athletes and for Dakar. We call on it to explain the criteria and reasoning behind its overturning of the IOC’s principles publicly, and to reconsider the decision while there is still time for eligible athletes to take part.
Young athletes should be able to pursue their sport, compete against their peers freely, and be judged by the same rules. Dakar should be an opportunity for that principle to be put into practice.
Arina Krylatkova’s statement on the exclusion from the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games
I am Arina Krylatkova, a high jumper with a personal best of 1.83 metres ranking top 3 in the world for the Under-18 competition.
I have spent years training for the chance to compete on the world stage, and I am deeply disappointed that I will not be able to take part in the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. I feel robbed of the opportunity to earn my place, test myself against my peers, and be judged by my performance.
Russian competitors are travelling to Dakar to compete in other sports. I am glad they have that opportunity. Their participation shows that the IOC’s principles on young athletes’ fundamental right to access sport can be put into practice. Their international federations have followed its principles and have allowed them to compete; World Athletics has not.
I hope the athletes who will be there have an excellent competition. But, it is sad to know that I will not get the chance to meet them on the field of play. Their results will be deserved, but athletics in Dakar will be a less complete global competition without athletes like me.
I would like the chance to compete under clear sporting rules, alongside the best young athletes in the world. That is what I have trained for – and what World Athletics has taken from me.
