Tokyo Olympics: What is the Russian Olympic Committee? ROC meaning and Russia ban from Tokyo 2020 explained
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Updated 02/08/2021 at 14:43 GMT
The Russian Olympic Committee has caused plenty of debate at Tokyo 2020 as to why the athletes aren't competing for Russia and we are on hand to explain why Russia are banned, along with the national anthem and national flag situation currently being used at the Games. Watch every unmissable moment from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games live on Discovery+ and the Eurosport app
The Russian Olympic Committee logo features the sae colours as the Russia flag
Image credit: Getty Images
You might be sat at home wondering what country 'ROC' could possibly be and you can be forgiven for not knowing off the top of your head.
'ROC' will be appearing on your TV screens hundreds of times throughout the next fortnight as well as ROC athletes taking to the podium after winning a medal - but plenty will be wondering about the background of its origins.
There's already been plenty of medals for ROC including in the men's and women's team gymnastics, while Evgeny Rylov won gold in the men's 200m backstroke.
While there is already plenty of talk about the Refugee Olympic Team and intrigue regarding the Chinese Taipei athletes competing, there are a lot of questions regarding the Russian Olympic Committee.
We are here to help you understand all the information you need to know about them.
What does ROC stand for at the Olympics?
ROC stands for Russian Olympic Committee.
335 athletes will be competing at Tokyo 2020 for the Russian Olympic Committee, who will compete under the Olympic flag rather than representing Russia as a country.
You won’t see Russia’s national flag or national anthem being played should their athletes win gold with Russia's National Olympic Committee currently banned from competing in major sporting events.
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Russian athletes are competing under the Russian Olympic Committee in Tokyo
Image credit: Getty Images
Why are Russia banned from the Olympics?
In 2019, Russia were handed a four-year ban from all major sporting events by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Russia’s Anti Doping Agency (RUSADA) was declared non-compliant for manipulating laboratory data handed over to investigators in January 2019.
As a result of its controversial reinstatement in 2018 after a three-year suspension for its vast state-sponsored doping scandal, RUSADA had to hand over data to WADA.
WADA had originally banned Russia from the world’s top sporting events for four years in December 2019, but the duration of the sanctions was halved to two years following an appeal last year.
That meant Russia would be unable to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, with the country already banned from competing as a nation in athletics since 2015.
However, athletes who can prove they are untainted by the doping scandal have been allowed to compete under a neutral flag.
"All public displays of the organisation’s participant name should use the acronym ‘ROC’, not the full name 'Russian Olympic Committee'", the IOC previously said in a statement.
Three flames in the national Russian flag colours with the Olympic rings below them makes up the logo and the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee.
Should an athlete win gold they will have a fragment of a concerto by Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky played instead of the Russia national anthem.
Russian sportsmen and women must compete in international competitions under a neutral flag until the ban ends on December 16, 2022.
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