The ROC
Formally known as the Olympic Athletes from Russia back in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the ROC, or the Russian Olympic Committee, was formed as a work-around to Russia’s 2019 ban from the Olympic Games. Their flag was an Olympic flame in Russian colors above the five Olympic rings. Their anthem was Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1”. To put simply, the Russians competed as neutrals.
Russia: A History of Doping
In fact, Russia has a bit of a history with state-sponsored doping programs already.
Russia was first accused of operating a state-sponsored doping program back in November 2015, by sports lawyer Professor Richard McLaren, who provided the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) with a report alleging as such. This was followed by a June 2016 report, which officially declared that Russia was, indeed, operating a state-sponsored doping program for Russian track and field athletics. The follow-up report also stated that such a program had been running for four years, and affected many summer and winter Olympic sports. This led to Russia’s first ban from being officially represented in the Olympics.
WADA later inquired into a different report in 2019, regarding inconsistent data from the Russian Anti-Doping Agency back in 2017. This new investigation led to the discovery of falsified dope testing information to cover up a second state-sponsored doping program that affected over 1,000 Russian athletes.
WADA placed a second four-year ban on Russia once this came to light. However, Russia appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration of Sports, who in turn took two years off the “sentence.” They still won’t be able to officially represent themselves in the 2022 Winter Olympics, nor host any world championship games, until December 2022.
The ROC was subsequently formed for athletes that could prove they had no ties with the doping scandal. Russia could still compete in the Olympics, but were forbidden from displaying nationalism towards their home country.
Unease over Russian Athletes
A common story that circulated the media is that of Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov, in relation to the doping scandal.
During the Olympic Games, Rylov won gold in the men’s 200-meter backstroke. The bronze and silver medalists did state that they were aware that they were most likely “swimming in a race that’s probably not clean,” and that it’s “obviously a very difficult situation not knowing whether the race is clean.” Rylov adamantly denies being on drugs for the race, saying, “I have always been for clean competition.”
The ROC went on to win 20 gold medals, 28 silver, and 23 bronze overall.
Many also go on to point out that there were an increased number of athletes participating in the Olympics this year. Only 271 athletes could compete at the Rio Games, but that number increased to 335 athletes in Tokyo.
These are only small facts that make other competing athletes apprehensive about Russia’s participation in the Tokyo Games. It is hard to tell who is and isn’t clean, for, on the surface, it doesn’t normally show. But with the doping scandal lingering over Russia’s head for many years, this has left a stain on Russian competitors.
It may be years before the stigma of Russia’s doping scandals finally fades into the background, if the country ever learns from their “mistakes” at all. However, it’s hard to tell if Russia will continue with its activity in athlete doping or drop the act altogether.
“Russia put 50 plus billion dollars into the Sochi Olympic Games,” Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said in an interview, “and they continue to put money into hosting international events across the board. [Thus, the International Olympic Committee] doesn't want to take a hard stand because they're fearful of the backlash [from] the Russians. At the end of the day, in the eyes of the IOC and its limp leadership, [Russia] is simply too big to fail.”