Rhianna Benson
The long-awaited 2026 Winter Olympics are just hours away from kicking off in Italy, but two countries have been left out in the cold.
For just over two weeks, the highest performing athletes from almost every nation around the world will be competing for gold in 16 different sports.
These include biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, the luge, speed skating and ski jumping.
Excitingly, this year's games - spread across both Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo - will see a brand new addition made to the sporting roster, in the form of ski mountaineering (otherwise known as 'skimo').
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The festivities will kick off on Friday (6 February) with a three-hour grand opening ceremony that includes live art and culture performances from the likes of Andrea Bocelli, Mariah Carey, Pierfrancesco Favino, Sabrina Impacciatore and Laura Pausini.
It'll also include the lighting of the Olympic flame, and the traditional Parade of Nations. The latter segment usually sees most of that year's participating athletes walking into the host stadium - this year, the San Siro in Milan - behind the individual flag representing their country.
Despite this, there are two flags viewers notably won't see appearing in the procession, that were previously Olympic regulars.
Since the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, neither Russia nor Belarus have been permitted to take part in the tournament.
Their ban was put in place the following year in response to the former's invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, the International Olympic Committee also declared the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, while imposing severe sanctions against on the eastern European nation and cutting its funding.
Despite this, athletes from both of these countries still appeared during the last summer games, in Paris.
It was ruled that Russian and Belarusian sportsmen and women would only compete within a team known as the Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), a policy that will continue in this year's Games.
To be eligible for specially-designated group, athletes from these neighbouring countries must be against the war in Ukraine, and bare no ties to any Russian or Belarusian military or security agencies.
The Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel (AINERP) will determine their potential eligibility.
If they are selected to compete under the AIN, these athletes are banned from waving their nation's flags, singing their anthems or wearing their national uniforms in any capacity during the games.
Any Olympic medals they achieve will also only count for the neutral team, and not for Russia or Belarus.
During the games in Paris, 15 Russian athletes competed for the AIN across sports including sports, including tennis, cycling, canoeing, and swimming.
Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider won silver medals for the neutral body in tennis for the women's doubles tournament in 2024.
During the same games, 17 Belarusian athletes came together to compete across the likes of trampoline gymnastics, rowing, cycling, swimming, shooting, and weightlifting.
Ivan Litvinovich won gold for the AIN in men's trampoline, while Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya won silver for the same female category.
A silver medal was also won in men's single sculls by Yauheni Zalaty, while Yauheni Tsikhantsou won bronze for men's 102kg weightlifting.