Russia is back and winning medals as Paralympics open under political tension

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — For the first time in 12 years, since they hosted the 2014 Sochi Games, Russian (and Belarusian) athletes are at an Olympics or Paralympics under their own flag. After a change in International Paralympic Committee policy that drew condemnations from several countries, the Russian delegation was allowed back into these 2026 Winter Paralympics despite their 2022 invasion of Ukraine and ongoing war there. They’re back competing and, after the first batch of medal events