How Russia changed to Russian Olympic Committee in Olympics?

Russia has been a tough competitor to the United States of America and China in any Olympics for 6 decades. Before the nation collapsed in 1991, Russia appeared as Soviet Union in any International Sports Event. 

Soviet Union showed its dominance and got highest in medal tally with 132 total medals in 1988 Seoul Olympics. Russia was not at all an under performer even after the disintegration of Soviet Union. In the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and 2012 London Olympics, Russia finished with 4^th place in the medal list. In the Tokyo Olympics the nation appears in the name Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). This time there is no disintegration but why the name has changed.

In 2019, Russia was debarred from participating in international events for 4 years. The country was accused of running a sophisticated doping event. It all stems from a doping scandal that has marred the country since 2015 and resulted in a ban from Olympic competitions. The ban was enacted after new revelations came up about a doping programme that Russia had been accused of. By this, the nation would not participate from 2020 Tokyo Olympics to 2022 FIFA World Cup. Russian players couldn’t use either country's flag or they couldn't sing Russian National anthem. That can’t stop Russian players at Olympic events.

Russian teams are competing under the name of Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). This ban doesn’t demoralize the players. Now, 330 Russian athletes are participating under the ROC banner. Russian athletes at Tokyo Olympics have proved that they were not part of the doping scam. An employee, who worked in Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), was claimed that Russia was organized doping scam. This was later called as the most “sophisticated doping programe” in the history of sports. Russia has made an appeal and the court of arbitration of sports has reduced the four year ban to two years. Russia would miss three major events like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.