Russia’s top three female gymnasts have been denied entry to the Netherlands just days before the start of the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, Russian officials said.

The Dutch Embassy in Moscow notified the visa center of the visa denial for three leaders of the Russian women’s national team on October 13, denying the visas for Angelina Melnikova, Viktoria Listunova, and Anna Kalmykova.

The Russian Gymnastics Federation has reported that Dutch officials officially denied the three athletes’ visas as “one or more Schengen Area member states consider the athletes a threat to their international relations.”

Melnikova and Listunova have been vocal supporters of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Melnikova running for political office as a candidate in Putin’s United Russia party before withdrawing to focus on gymnastics training.

As of today’s date, five more athletes included in the Russian national team’s World Championship roster are also awaiting decisions on their visa applications. Four athletes’ visas – one female and three male – have been approved.

The decision to deny the visas of the three top athletes while approving others – including the entirety of the Belarusian team – has drawn intense scrutiny. Russia was expected to contend for gold in the team final, with its individual athletes favored for medals across all four women’s disciplines.

Top Three Gymnasts Denied

Melnikova is the reigning World and European all-around champion and third most-decorated Russian female gymnast in history. In 2021, Melnikova led the Russian Olympic Committee to Olympic gold over Simone Biles and Team USA.

Viktoria Listunova, whose visa was also denied by Dutch authorities, was also a member of the gold medal-winning Olympic team and considered a top threat for world championship medals.

18-year-old Anna Kalmykova is the reigning Russian national all-around champion and the European silver medalist, having finished just behind Melnikova at August’s competition.

“The Russian Gymnastics Federation views the actions of the Dutch authorities as a deliberate attempt to exclude the strongest gymnasts from competing for World Championship medals and Olympic quotas,” the federation asserts.

Thus, October 13’s decision effectively bans Russia’s top three athletes from competing in Rotterdam. With the competition serving as an Olympic qualifying event, the move also complicates the RGF’s path to Olympic qualification.

“Unfair,” Melnikova wrote on social media. “Looks like a decision ‘let’s compete but without her, her and her’ just unfair competition and selection [to the Olympic games],” she said.

“This constitutes direct discrimination against Russian athletes and a gross violation of the principle of equal conditions for Olympic selection,” the federation asserted.

Russian Gymnastics Federation Vows to Take Action

Though RGF officials confirmed that they have not received support from World Gymnastics (FIG), the sport’s governing body, the federation vows to appeal the decision. I reached out to World Gymnastics on four separate occasions, but received no response to my inquiries.

Forbes has also asked the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport for comment, along with World Gymnastics, which has not responded to repeated requests.

The RGF intends to appeal the decision in front of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Gymnastics, with priorities set on “ensuring equal conditions for Olympic qualification.”

With competition beginning October 17 and the window for visa approvals closing, the RGF appears to set sights on protecting Olympic qualification procedures rather than its athletes’ appearance at this month’s world championships.

Israel vs. Indonesia in 2025

This week’s conflict joins a recent string of visa denials at international events.

In 2025, the Israeli Gymnastics Federation faced similar visa denials from host country, Indonesia. Just days before the 2025 World Championships, Indonesia announced it would not issue visas to the six-person Israeli delegation.

World Gymnastics was unresponsive to my inquiries in 2025, but issued a short statement the same day saying it “takes note” of Indonesia’s decision.

While the Israeli Gymnastics Federation filed two appeals with the Court Arbitration of Sports against the World Gymnastics (FIG), the FIG argued that it has no prerogatives over entry visas and that Indonesia’s refusal fell “entirely outside the competence of the FIG.”

Thus, the world championships proceeded without Israel. As of October 13, it appears that Russia’s top gymnasts may face a similar outcome.