The famous Ukrainian skier Taras Filyak publicly challenged the decision on the composition of the Ukrainian national team for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 23-year-old native of the Carpathian region said that the current selection system is unfair and has actually deprived him of his chances of getting to the Games in Italy.

Filyak said that he contacted the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and the Ski Federation of Ukraine after he learned that the final decision on the candidate for the Olympics had already been made. According to him, the key selection factor was the results of the Junior World Championship, in which he could not participate, which means he did not have the opportunity to score decisive points.

“The decision regarding the athlete who will represent Ukraine at the 2026 Olympic Games in alpine skiing has already been made. I was not selected based on these criteria, since the results of the Junior World Championships were given priority in the calculation. I did not have the opportunity to participate in the Junior World Championships, and accordingly, I could not score junior points, which became decisive in the selection,” Filyak wrote on Instagram.

The athlete emphasized that his results at adult international competitions, including the stages of the European Cup and participation in the World Cup, did not become decisive, although they, in his opinion, most objectively reflect the level of readiness for the Olympics. At the same time, Filyak noted that his appeal is not directed against other candidates.

“We are talking exclusively about selection criteria, which, in my opinion, should be based on senior international results and equal conditions for all candidates,” the skier emphasized.

The Ukrainian Ski Federation in an official statement rejected the athlete's claims and stated that the selection system was approved in advance and is transparent. The FLSU recalled that the criteria were agreed upon by the technical committee back in April 2025, approved by the Ministry of Youth Sports and the NOC of Ukraine and published in the public domain, and all calculations were checked by several structures.

" Any changes after the completion of the qualification period would violate the rights of other athletes,” the federation said in a statement..

In response, Filyak stated that the FLSU commentary contains unreliable information and insists that objections to the criteria were voiced even before their final approval.

According to him, the official appeal was sent in April 2025, and during working meetings, senior coach of the national team Timofey Ershov publicly proposed excluding the results of the Junior World Championship from the criteria.

" In connection with this, we ask the Federation of Ski Sports of Ukraine and the National Olympic Committee to properly respond to the situation and review the official selection criteria,” Filyak said.

The 23-year-old athlete also published screenshots of correspondence with FLSU General Secretary Yulia Siparenko and a fragment of a video conference where a controversial point in the criteria was discussed.

Taras Filyak, as a junior, repeatedly became the champion and prize-winner of Ukraine in technical disciplines, and after moving to adult sports, he gained a foothold at the international level.

High positions in the FIS rankings and successful performances abroad, including podiums at the South American Cup stages, maintain his status as one of the leading skiers in Ukraine.