FIS clears ten more Russians. Russia can now fill its men's places in Ruka, but not its women's

FIS has cleared ten more Russian cross-country skiers as neutral athletes. The list of approved neutral athletes dated 27 October has 47 cross-country athletes: 45 from Russia and two from Belarus. The previous version, from 23 October, had 37. Nobody was removed, and the number of cleared cross-country coaches and support staff is unchanged at 25.

The new names are seven men, Artem Barkov, Nikita Fadeev, Matvei Ketov, Viacheslav Mamichev, Daniil Muraleev, Nikita Rodionov and Pavel Sergeev, and three women, Varvara Kalinina, Arina Kusurgasheva and Elizaveta Shalaboda. Shalaboda won the 50 km classic mass start at the 2022 Russian championships. Six of the ten were born between 2005 and 2008.

Aleksandr Bolshunov and Veronika Stepanova are still not on the list. Neither are Sergey Ardashev, Alexander Terentev and Alena Baranova, the other three skiers Russia pre-selected for Ruka and Trondheim on Monday without neutral status.

Two new skiers with World Cup points

To start a World Cup race, a skier needs 150 FIS points or less on the points list valid for that race: distance points for distance races, distance or sprint points for sprints. We checked all ten new names against the current list, the second of 2026/27, valid until 11 November.

Both qualify. The other eight have no points on the current list. Shalaboda, Kusurgasheva and Muraleev had points on older lists that have since dropped off.

Like the other cleared Russians, Rodionov and Mamichev have no FIS-listed result since spring 2022. Their points come from Russian races that season, when Rodionov was 19 and Mamichev 16.

That gives Russia seven men who are cleared and have the points to start in Ruka on 27–29 November, ranked here by distance points:

• Men: Savelii Korostelev (9.51), Ilia Semikov (24.22), Ivan Gorbunov (33.02), Nikita Denisov (37.75), Rodionov (42.97), Egor Mitroshin (44.97), Mamichev (119.01)
• Women: Natalia Terenteva (7.68), Dariya Nepryaeva (15.62), Ekaterina Nikitina (86.60), Alina Pekletsova (93.86), Lidiia Gorbunova (102.56)

Russia has six start places per gender in each individual race. FIS updates its points rankings several times a season. The next update, the season’s third points list, takes effect on 12 November and is expected to be the one that counts for Ruka.

What it means for Ruka

For the men, filling the quota is no longer a problem. For the first time this autumn, Russia has more eligible men than start places. On the women’s side it is still five for six, as it was after the 23 October update. None of the three new women has current points.

The newcomers add numbers rather than strength. Rodionov’s distance points rank 88th in the world; Mamichev’s are inside the limit with 31 to spare. Both earned them as juniors four and a half years ago. They give the federation options for the sixth place and for the “Yugoria. First Snow” trials in Khanty-Mansiysk on 10–11 November, where Russia picks the rest of its team.

A full squad of ten still depends on FIS. Russia’s federation plans to name ten men and ten women for Ruka and Trondheim. On today’s list it has seven and five. Bolshunov, Terentev and Ardashev would take the men’s side to ten; on the women’s side, Stepanova has not applied, as far as is publicly known, and Baranova’s status is unclear. FIS has not commented on Bolshunov’s application. It has published four versions of the list since 16 October, so the next one may not be far off.

Neutral athletes can only race individual events; relays and team sprints stay closed to them, on the World Cup and at the Falun World Championships.

Update, 31 October 2026: The FIS list dated 30 October adds 25 more cross-country athletes, 13 Belarusian and 12 Russian, none of them with the points to start on the World Cup. The count of seven eligible Russian men and five women is unchanged. Our analysis.