2026 Olympics: everything you need to know about rule 40 for athletes qualifying for the Games
On the gong. On Thursday 29 January, American biathlete Deedra Irwin was quick to mention her 14 partners in an Instagram post: “So the Olympic blackout starts tomorrow… […] thank you all for your support”. […] thank you all for your support.” The next day, the main Olympic Village opened its doors, and with it the Olympic period. This lasts until 24 February, the day after the Closing Ceremony.
For 26 days, the Olympians must pay particular attention to their communications, and comply with rule 40. Introduced in 2011, the official aim of this rule is to prevent over-commercialisation of the Olympic event by sponsors who are not directly paying for the competition. In reality, its aim is to maintain the visibility of the IOC’s partners, and thus negotiate upwards the amount of their contribution.
Prohibited association between the Olympic Games and a personal sponsor
Reworked several times, the conditions of this article stretch over nine pages. The restrictions are important for the athletes. Firstly, they must never link the Olympic Games to their partners. On sponsored posts, photos or videos must not be from the Olympic Games, be taken in the outfits used at Milan/Cortina 2026, or use symbols (logos, mascots, photos of host cities). The description must not explicitly mention the competition or the corresponding hashtag.
During the Olympic period (from 30 January to 24 February), athletes are not even allowed to mention their sponsors. They have to wait until three days after the end of the Games to thank their partners, without saying that their products contributed to their performance, and without mentioning any terms or symbols associated with the Games.
This is a balancing act, to avoid possible sanctions (warning, withdrawal of accreditation or even exclusion from the Games). For its part, the partner must have notified the IOC before 19 December of its planned communication campaigns, and these must not be peaked during the competition.
Exceptions… for IOC partner companies
Faced with such drastic regulations, which are not applied at World Championships or World Cups, qualified athletes are supported by their National Olympic Committees. These committees are responsible for overseeing and enforcing these regulations within their federations. The CNOSF is stepping up its communications with qualified French athletes, offering workshops on the subject at a media event in Paris in October.
Only those who are also partners with the IOC are exempt from these restrictions. For the 2026 Olympics, this includes Norwegian biathlete Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, Finnish cross-country runner Iivo Niskanen, jumpers Ryoyu Kobayashi and Sara Takanashi (Japan), Daniel Tschofenig (Austria) and Andreas Wellinger (Germany). All have an image partnership with Visa. Samsung has contracts with Italian cross-country skier Elia Barp and his biathlete compatriots Lisa Vittozzi and Tommaso Giacomel. Swedish cross-country skiers Ebba Andersson, Frida Karlsson and Jonna Sundling will be able to associate TCL by name. The same goes for Italy’s Federico Pellegrino with Airbnb, Ireland’s Thomas Maloney Westgaard with Deloitte and Italian biathlete Dorothea Wierer with Omega. American para-biathlete and cross-country skier Oksana Masters will be free to talk about her partnerships with P&G, Omega and Visa.
A long-standing dispute
This rule 40 understandably causes frustration among the other competitors, who consider it unfair not to be able to reward those who finance their season and indirectly enable them to be present at the Olympics. It is also difficult to publicise this lack of visibility at the major event during discussions with potential partners. Especially as these sponsors also disappear from the outfits and equipment worn by the athletes. This gives viewers images of venues that are free of visual pollution, but creates a real image deficit for the partners.
The protest is not new. A campaign was launched in 2012 under the slogan #WeDemandChange. In 2019, Germany decided to relax its regulations, judging them to be too restrictive in relation to local law. In France, both sponsors and athletes remain cautious about the 2026 edition. At least until the end of the Olympic period on the evening of 24 February.
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