Russia is still banned from participating in the Olympics, but their athletes will still have a chance to win a gold medal, even if they are under the neutral banner of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).
The International Olympic Committee announced two months before the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea that Russia would not be able to compete. The ban was imposed as a result of "systemic manipulation" of Russia's anti-doping rules, which the Russian government and officials found involved in concealing athletes' doping during the 2014 Winter Olympics.
More than 20 Russian athletes have been barred from competing in the Olympics for the rest of their lives, and the country has lost more than ten medals. Athletes who can prove they are "clean" can compete under the banner of the "Russian Olympic Committee".
According to IOC regulations, Russian athletes are not allowed to display any representation of their country in any form during the Games, including its flag or national anthem. The abbreviation "ROC" is required to be used instead of the full name of "Russian Olympic Committee" in all public performances.
If an athlete wins a medal, a song by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky will be played instead of the Russian national anthem. The ROC flag, which features red, white and blue waves instead of the Olympic rings and the Russian flag, will be flown.
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The IOC later reduced Russia's suspension from the Olympics to two years after the country denied the charges leveled against it. The "Olympic Athletes from Russia," or OAR, competed during the Pyeongchang Olympics. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) competed in the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Before the official announcement of the ban, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it would be "a disgrace to the country" for athletes to compete without national symbols. However, he later confirmed that Russia would not bar players from competing individually at the Olympics.
While the IOC's two-year ban should allow Russia to return to the Olympics this year, the World Anti-Doping Agency's two-year ban imposed in 2018 keeps Russia out of all major international sporting events until December 2022.
WADA President Sir Craig Reedy said in 2019, "Russia was given every opportunity to clean house and re-engage the global anti-doping community for the well-being of its athletes and the integrity of the sport."
Russia is not the only country whose participation in the Olympics has been temporarily suspended. Previously, Afghanistan was banned because of the Taliban's treatment of women, and Kuwait was banned because of a law that was inconsistent with Olympic principles.