An ROC flag features the main colours of the Russia national flag (Picture: TASS via Getty Images)

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Why Russia is banned from the Olympics and is competing under new name, ROC

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Updated on July 28, 2021

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Russia was barred from competing in the Tokyo Olympics in December 2019 following the infamous doping scandal that shook the athletic world.

During the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games, the country was known as the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR), and for the 2021 Tokyo Games, they will be known as the ROC.

It’s not an acronym for a nation. ROC stands for the Russian Olympic Committee. It is a workaround enabling Russian athletes to compete in the Olympics despite Russia’s ban.

Consider the opening ceremony. A sizable Russian delegation marched in the parade of countries, trailing San Marino and slightly ahead of Sierra Leone, under the banner of R.O.C., the Russian Olympic Committee. That is the official moniker under which more than 330 Russian athletes are competing here, a disciplinary ruse necessitated by sanctions imposed following the country’s recent doping scandals.

Russia has categorically rejected any involvement in a state-sponsored doping system, and filed an appeal against the original four-year suspension imposed in 2019.

Russian competitors in Russia’s national colors have participated in dozens of disciplines in the days after walking proudly into the Olympic Stadium in central Tokyo, from archery to diving, fencing to gymnastics, tennis to taekwondo. Russia even received its first gold medal on Sunday. It scooped up two more after twenty-four hours.

Olympic rules require that the acronym ROC be used instead of the full name.

Athletes who were not engaged in the Russian doping controversy are still allowed to compete in Olympic competition throughout that two-year timeframe. As a result, 335 Russians will compete in the 2021 Olympics. They must, however, do so as neutrals.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that their Anti-Doping Agency was non-compliant, with a three-judge panel unanimously agreeing that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) failed to provide authentic drug-test data upon request from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), who had initially pushed for a four-year ban.

Athletes with the ROC designation can wear Russian-colored uniforms, but if they win a gold medal, the Russia anthem will not be played.

“We at WADA remain disappointed that [the Court of Arbitration for Sport] has decreased the level of the sanctions from four years to two years and that CAS allows them to compete Russian athletes with the colors of the flag in the uniforms,” WADA President Witold Baka stated, according to USA TODAY Sports.

The penalties stem from one of the worst doping scandals in sports history: a years-long campaign to swap dirty doping samples for clean ones — and then cover it up — that eventually affected dozens of sports and involved over 1,000 athletes, dozens of coaches and sports officials, and even members of the country’s state security services.

Team uniforms may include the term “Russian” but only if it is followed by the phrase “neutral athlete” indicating that the person is not representing Russia.

And, if Russia qualifies for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, they will have to participate under a neutral name.

Russia will also be barred from competing in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo next summer, as well as any world championship events hosted by a WADA signatory, until the punishment expires on December 16, 2022.