Russia at the Olympics
Sporting event delegation
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Russia, referred to by its formal name; the Russian Federation, by the International Olympic Committee, has competed at the modern Olympic Games on many occasions, but as different nations in its history. As the Russian Empire, the nation first competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics and returned again in 1908 and 1912. It would be forty years until Russian athletes once again competed at the Olympics, as the Soviet Union at the 1952 Summer Olympics. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia competed as part of the Unified Team in 1992, and finally returned once again as Russia at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
| Russia at the Olympics | |
|---|---|
| |
| IOC code | RUS |
| NOC | Russian Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| Medals Ranked 12th |
|
| Summer appearances | |
| Winter appearances | |
| Other related appearances | |
 Russian Empire (1900–1912) Soviet Union (1952–1988) Unified Team (1992) Olympic Athletes from Russia (2018) ROC (2020–2022) Individual Neutral Athletes (2024–2026) | |
The Russian Olympic Committee was created in 1991 and recognized in 1993. The Soviet Union hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and the Russian Federation hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
In twelve appearances from 1994 to 2016, Russian athletes won a total of 422 medals at the Summer Olympic Games and another 120 at the Winter Olympic Games. Russia's 542 total medals, including 193 gold medals, are second behind only the United States in that timespan.
In 2017, Russia was suspended from competing at the Olympic Games due to the state-sponsored doping scandal. Russian athletes were allowed to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics as the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR). They were also allowed to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics, representing the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).[1]
Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee allowed Russian athletes to participate at the 2024 Summer Olympics and 2026 Winter Olympics as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN).[2][3]
Hosted Games
Russia has hosted the Games on two occasions. Moscow was the host of the 1980 Summer Games, when Russia (Russian SFSR) was part of the Soviet Union. Sochi was the host of the 2014 Winter Games, as part of the Russian Federation.
| Games | Host city | Dates | Nations | Participants | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 Summer Olympics | Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 19 July–3 August | 80 | 5,179 | 203 |
| 2014 Winter Olympics | Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russian Federation | 7–23 February | 88 | 2,873 | 98 |
Participation
Timeline of participation
| Olympic Year/s | Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| 1900–1912 | Russian Empire | |
| 1920–1936 | ||
| 1952–1988 | Soviet Union | |
| 1992 | Unified Team | |
| 1994 | Russia |  Belarus |
| 1996–2012 |  Belarus | |
| 2014–2016 |  Belarus | |
| 2018 | Olympic Athletes from Russia | |
| 2020–2022 | Russian Olympic Committee | |
| 2024–present | Individual Neutral Athletes | |
Combined medals
The Russian Federation, the Russian Empire, the Olympic Athletes from Russia, and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) are sometimes combined outside of IOC sources. The Soviet Union is often combined with the post-union team that competed in 1992.[4][5][6] Some sources combine the Soviet Union and Russia, despite the fact that many republics which subsequently gained or re-gained independence (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan) contributed to the medal tally of the USSR, and there are sources that combine all medals of RU1, URS, EUN, OAR, ROC and RUS.[7][8] On 31 January 1992, the United Nations recognized, without objection, Russia as legal successor of the rights and obligations of the former Soviet Union,[9] but this has no significance in medal tallies.
Neutral Russian athletes that competed as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) at the 2024 Summer and the 2026 Winter Olympics are also included in the table.
Medal counts:
Russia combined with precursors and Russian delegations
status after the 2026 Olympics
- Note: Neutral Russian athletes that competed as AIN at the 2024 Summer and the 2026 Winter Olympics are also included in the table.
| Summer Games | Winter Games | Combined total | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team (IOC code) |
No. |
|
|
|
Total |
No. |
|
|
|
Total |
No. |
|
|
|
Total |
| Russia |
6 | 147 | 125 | 150 | 422 | 6 | 45 | 39 | 34 | 118 | 12 | 192 | 164 | 184 | 540 |
| Russian Empire |
3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| Soviet Union |
9 | 395 | 319 | 296 | 1010 | 9 | 78 | 57 | 59 | 194 | 18 | 473 | 376 | 355 | 1204 |
| Unified Team |
1 | 45 | 38 | 29 | 112 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 23 | 2 | 54 | 44 | 37 | 135 |
| Olympic Athletes from Russia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 17 |
| ROC |
1 | 20 | 28 | 23 | 71 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 32 | 2 | 25 | 40 | 38 | 103 |
| Individual Neutral Athletes |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 21 | 608 | 515 | 501 | 1624 | 19 | 139 | 121 | 125 | 385 | 40 | 747 | 636 | 626 | 2009 |
Medal tables
Medals by Summer Games
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900–1912 | as part of the Russian Empire | |||||
| 1920–1948 | did not participate | |||||
| 1952–1988 | as part of the Soviet Union | |||||
 1992 Barcelona | as part of the Unified Team | |||||
 1996 Atlanta | 390 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 63 | 2 |
 2000 Sydney | 435 | 32 | 28 | 29 | 89 | 2 |
 2004 Athens | 446 | 28 | 26 | 36 | 90 | 3 |
 2008 Beijing | 455 | 24 | 13 | 23 | 60 | 3 |
 2012 London | 436 | 18 | 20 | 26 | 64 | 4 |
 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 282 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 56 | 4 |
 2020 Tokyo | as the ROC | |||||
 2024 Paris | as part of the Individual Neutral Athletes | |||||
| 2028 Los Angeles | future event | |||||
| 2032 Brisbane | ||||||
| Total (6/30) | 2,444 | 147 | 125 | 150 | 422 | 13 |
Medals by Winter Games
Host country
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956–1988 | as part of the Soviet Union | |||||
| 1992 Albertville | as part of the Unified Team | |||||
 1994 Lillehammer | 113 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 23 | 1 |
| 1998 Nagano | 122 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 3 |
| 2002 Salt Lake City | 151 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 5 |
 2006 Turin | 190 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 4 |
 2010 Vancouver | 177 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 12 |
| 2014 Sochi | 232 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 29 | 2 |
 2018 Pyeongchang | as the Olympic Athletes from Russia | |||||
| 2022 Beijing | as the ROC | |||||
| 2026 Milano Cortina | as part of the Individual Neutral Athletes | |||||
| 2030 French Alps | future event | |||||
| 2034 Utah | ||||||
| Total (6/25) | 985 | 45 | 39 | 34 | 118 | 13 |
Medals by summer sport
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wrestling | 31 | 11 | 14 | 56 |
 Gymnastics | 22 | 21 | 21 | 64 |
 Athletics | 18 | 21 | 19 | 58 |
 Fencing | 13 | 5 | 8 | 26 |
 Boxing | 10 | 5 | 15 | 30 |
 Artistic swimming | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
 Shooting | 7 | 13 | 11 | 31 |
 Swimming | 5 | 9 | 9 | 23 |
 Cycling | 5 | 5 | 9 | 19 |
 Judo | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16 |
 Diving | 4 | 8 | 6 | 18 |
 Weightlifting | 4 | 7 | 6 | 17 |
 Modern pentathlon | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
 Tennis | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
 Canoeing | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 |
 Handball | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
 Volleyball | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
 Rowing | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
 Taekwondo | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
 Water polo | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
 Archery | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Sailing | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Basketball | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
 Badminton | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (24 entries) | 147 | 126 | 150 | 423 |
Medals by winter sport
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cross country skiing | 14 | 10 | 9 | 33 |
 Figure skating | 14 | 9 | 3 | 26 |
 Biathlon | 8 | 5 | 7 | 20 |
 Speed skating | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
 Short track speed skating | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
 Snowboarding | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
 Skeleton | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
 Luge | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
 Freestyle skiing | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
 Bobsleigh | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Ice hockey | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Alpine skiing | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Nordic combined | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (13 entries) | 45 | 39 | 34 | 118 |
Notes
- On 9 February 2014, Russia captured the inaugural gold medal in the team figure skating event at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.[10] Yulia Lipnitskaya, at 15, becomes the youngest Russian Winter Olympic medalist.[citation needed]
- On 10 February 2014, Viktor Ahn won the first short track speedskating medal for Russia competing as Russia. He won the bronze medal in the 1500m short track speedskating event at the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics.[11]
- On 15 February 2014, Ahn won the second Russian gold medal in the 1000m short track speedskating event, leading the first Russian 1–2 finish in short track, with Vladimir Grigorev winning silver. At 31 years and 191 days, Grigorev also became the oldest man to win a short track Olympic medal.[12]
- On 20 February 2014, Adelina Sotnikova won the first ever Russian ladies figure skating gold medal.
Stripped Olympic medals
Due to doping violations, Russia has been stripped of 48 Olympic medals – the most of any country, four times the number of the runner-up, and 30% of the global total. It was the leading country in terms of the number of medals removed due to doping at the 2002 Winter Olympics (5 medals), the 2006 Winter Olympics (1 medal), the 2008 Summer Olympics (14 medals), the 2010 Winter Olympics (2 medals), the 2012 Summer Olympics (17 medals), 2014 Winter Olympics (4 medals — 10 others were stripped and returned) and the joint most at the 2004 Summer Olympics (3 medals), the 2016 Summer Olympics (1 medal), and the 2022 Winter Olympics (1 medal).
2016–present partial ban
Russia was partially banned from participation at the 2016 Summer Olympics due to the state-sponsored doping scandal. Russian athletes were then allowed to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics as the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR), and in both the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics as the Russian Olympic Committee athletes (ROC).[51][52]
Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in January 2023 plans to have Russian athletes introduced as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[2][53] The IOC also published a statement stating that it supported the return of Russian athletes, as long as they did not "actively" advocate for the war and as long as their flag, anthem, colors, and organizations were excluded (thus preventing them from competing under the Russian Olympic Committee as in 2020 and 2022).[54] However, they could not compete in team events.[55] With the Russo-Ukrainian war extending into 2026, Russian athletes were also introduced as Individual Neutral Athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics under the same rules used in 2024.[3]
Flag bearers
- 1994 Lillehammer – Sergei Tchepikov
- 1996 Atlanta – Aleksandr Karelin
- 1998 Nagano – Alexey Prokurorov
- 2000 Sydney – Andrey Lavrov
- 2002 Salt Lake City – Alexey Prokurorov
- 2004 Athens – Alexander Popov
- 2006 Turin – Dmitry Dorofeyev
- 2008 Beijing – Andrei Kirilenko
- 2010 Vancouver – Aleksey Morozov
- 2012 London – Maria Sharapova
- 2014 Sochi – Alexander Zubkov
- 2016 Rio de Janeiro – Sergey Tetyukhin