MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
With a little over six weeks until the Winter Olympics start in Italy, athletes all over the world are now competing to qualify. That includes Russian athletes, even though Russia is not allowed to send a team because of its ongoing war against Ukraine. Today and tomorrow, Russian luge athletes are competing in the U.S. in Lake Placid, New York, side by side with Ukrainians. North Country Public Radio's Emily Russell reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUGE RUMBLING)
EMILY RUSSELL, BYLINE: The luge track in Lake Placid is known for its tight turns that test the skills of each slider. Ukrainian Anton Dukach flies down the icy track at more than 70 miles an hour.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: He's made his way down through Cliffside and into the Whiteface curve, entering the Devil's Highway at 18.509.
RUSSELL: A fan waves a blue and yellow Ukrainian flag as Dukach crosses the finish line.
(CHEERING)
RUSSELL: Dukach will compete again tomorrow. Ultimately, he's hoping to qualify this season for his third Olympics.
ANTON DUKACH: I'm very proud to represent my country, to win some medals, to show my friends who are doing military service to defend us that we are competing, we are strong. We are trying to show the world that we are fighting.
RUSSELL: This Olympic qualifying event in Lake Placid has taken on a new meaning for Dukach and the other Ukrainians. It's the first time since the war began that they're competing alongside Russian athletes. The International Luge Federation, known as the FIL, banned Russia back in 2022. Then this season, it adopted the guidelines set by the International Olympic Committee. Russians are now allowed to compete under a neutral flag if the governing body for their sport deems them neutral. It's happened before - when Russia was penalized for wide-scale state-sponsored doping.
DUKACH: I call them so-called neutral because they are not neutral. We have many proofs of their not neutrality.
RUSSELL: Russian athletes won't be allowed to compete in every Olympic sport. Notably, NHL superstar Alexander Ovechkin won't play. The International Ski Federation tried to ban Russian athletes. The Russian team appealed, and now an international court says Russian skiers can compete. Dukach doesn't think Russians should be allowed to compete at all in luge, as Russia's war on his country rages on.
DUKACH: Almost every week, shelling by Russian rockets. And also my apartment was damaged by Russian rocket.
RUSSELL: The FIL, luge's governing body, initially cleared six Russian athletes for this World Cup in Lake Placid. Then on Tuesday, three were disqualified. The FIL hasn't released details of its decision, and the Russian team declined to be interviewed for this story. But for nearly as long as the Olympics have existed, they've been affected by wars and political controversies. Margit Dengler from the FIL says that's just the reality of international sports.
MARGIT DENGLER: I think in a perfect world, politics would not impact sports. But we are not in a perfect world.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: From the neutral nations, this is Daria Olesik.
(CHEERING)
RUSSELL: Carrie Britcher is cheering on from the finish line. Her daughter is a top luge athlete for the USA. But Britcher says she's supporting all the racers here this weekend, including the Russians. She thinks it's unfair that some were disqualified earlier this week.
CARRIE BRITCHER: They have hopes. They have dreams. They - they're training all their lives to make the Olympic team, only to be banned because they have a dictator that might be doing some bad things.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUGE RUMBLING)
RUSSELL: This sport is so fast and dangerous that most folks here are glued to the action unfolding in front of them. A group of local school kids cheers on the Americans.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: (Chanting) USA, USA.
RUSSELL: American luge athlete Sophia Kirkby says the other racers she's talked to in Lake Placid really aren't focused on the Russian drama.
SOPHIA KIRKBY: Everyone's main focus is, how do I get down this track and how do I not hit walls, how do I not crash and how do I try and produce a fast time?
RUSSELL: This is just one of a handful of qualifying races ahead of the Olympics, so the stakes here are high.
For NPR News, I'm Emily Russell in Lake Placid, New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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