Russia at the Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Russia at the Olympics
IOC code	RUS
NOC	Russian Olympic Committee
Website
Medals Ranked 11th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 194 165 185 544

Russia, also known as the Russian Federation, has a long history in the Olympic Games. Russian athletes have competed many times, but under different names throughout history.

The nation first joined the Olympics as the Russian Empire at the 1900 Games. They also competed in 1908 and 1912. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia did not compete for 30 years. Athletes from Russia then competed as part of the Soviet Union starting in 1952.

When the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, Russia competed as part of the Unified Team in 1992. Finally, Russia returned as Russia at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

The Russian Olympic Committee was created in 1991 and officially recognized in 1993. Russia has won many medals over the years. Since 1994, Russia has earned 546 total medals, including 195 gold medals. This places them third overall, behind only the United States and China.

In 2017, Russia faced a ban from the Olympic Games. This was due to a doping scandal where athletes used banned substances. Russian athletes were still allowed to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics. They participated as the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR). They also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics as the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made a new rule. For the 2024 Summer Olympics, Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete as Individual Neutral Athletes. This means they cannot represent their country directly.

Olympic Games Hosted by Russia

Russia has hosted the Olympic Games two times. The first time was in Moscow for the 1980 Summer Olympics. At that time, Russia was part of the Soviet Union. The second time was in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. This was after Russia became an independent nation again.

Russia's Olympic Journey

How Russia Has Competed Over Time

Russian athletes have competed under different teams throughout history.

Date	Team
1900–1912	Russian Empire (RU1)
1920	Estonia (EST)
1924–1936		Latvia (LAT),  Lithuania (LTU)
1952–1988	Soviet Union (URS)
1992	{{nowrap| Estonia (EST),  Latvia (LAT),  Lithuania (LTU)		Unified Team (EUN)
1994			Russia (RUS)	Belarus (BLR)	Armenia (ARM),  Georgia (GEO),  Kazakhstan (KAZ),  Kyrgyzstan (KGZ),  Moldova (MDA),  Ukraine (UKR),  Uzbekistan (UZB)
1996–2016						Azerbaijan (AZE),  Tajikistan (TJK),  Turkmenistan (TKM)
2018			Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)
2020–2022			Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)
2024			Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN)

Medals Won by Russia

Here's a look at the medals Russia has won at the Summer and Winter Games.

	Summer Games					Winter Games					Combined total
Team (IOC code)	No.				Total	No.				Total	No.				Total
Russia (RUS)	6	147	126	150	423	6	47	39	35	121	12	194	165	185	544
Russian Empire (RU1)	3	1	4	3	8	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	4	3	8
Soviet Union (URS)	9	395	319	296	1010	9	78	57	59	194	18	473	376	355	1204
Unified Team (EUN)	1	45	38	29	112	1	9	6	8	23	2	54	44	37	135
Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	9	17	1	2	6	9	17
Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)	1	20	28	23	71	1	5	12	15	32	2	25	40	38	103
Total	20	608	515	501	1624	18	141	120	126	387	38	749	635	627	2011

Medals by Summer Games This table shows how many medals Russia won at each Summer Olympic Games. Games Athletes 1 Gold 2 Silver 3 Bronze Total Rank 1896 did not participate 1900 – 1912 as part of the  Russian Empire (RU1) 1920 – 1948 did not participate 1952 – 1988 as part of the  Soviet Union (URS) 1992 Barcelona as part of the  Unified Team (EUN) 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 21 26 65 4 2016 Rio de Janeiro 282 19 17 20 56 4 2020 Tokyo1 as the  Republic of China (ROC) 2024 Paris as part of the  Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) 2028 Los Angeles future event Total 147 126 150 423 13

Medals by Winter Games This table shows how many medals Russia won at each Winter Olympic Games. Games Athletes 1 Gold 2 Silver 3 Bronze Total Rank 1924 – 1952 did not participate 1956 – 1988 as part of the  Soviet Union (URS) 1992 Albertville as part of the  Unified Team (EUN) 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 3 5 7 15 11 2014 Sochi 232 11 10 9 30 1 2018 Pyeongchang1 as the  Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) 2022 Beijing1 as the  Republic of China (ROC) 2026 Milan/Cortina future event Total 47 39 35 121 10

Notes

• ¹: Russia was not allowed to compete under its own flag due to a doping program.

Stripped Olympic Medals

Sometimes, athletes lose their medals if they are found to have used banned substances (doping). Russia has had 46 Olympic medals taken away due to doping. This is the highest number for any country. It means about 30% of all stripped medals worldwide belong to Russia.

This happened at several Games:

• 2002 Winter Olympics (5 medals)
• 2004 Summer Olympics (3 medals)
• 2006 Winter Olympics (1 medal)
• 2008 Summer Olympics (14 medals)
• 2012 Summer Olympics (17 medals)
• 2014 Winter Olympics (4 medals)
• 2016 Summer Olympics (1 medal)
• 2022 Winter Olympics (1 medal)

Recent Olympic Bans and Changes

Since 2016, Russia has faced bans and restrictions in the Olympics. This is due to a big doping scandal where the government was involved.

• At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Russia was partly banned.
• For the 2018 Winter Olympics, Russian athletes competed as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR).
• At the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics, they competed as "Russian Olympic Committee athletes" (ROC).

In January 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced new rules. Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian athletes can compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics as "neutral athletes." This means they cannot show their national flag, play their anthem, or use their country's colors or symbols. They also cannot support the war.

Flag Bearers

The flag bearer is an athlete who carries their country's flag during the opening ceremony. Here are some of Russia's flag bearers:

• 1994 Winter Olympics – Sergei Tchepikov
• 1996 Summer Olympics – Aleksandr Karelin
• 1998 Winter Olympics – Alexey Prokurorov
• 2000 Summer Olympics – Andrey Lavrov
• 2002 Winter Olympics – Alexey Prokurorov
• 2004 Summer Olympics – Alexander Popov
• 2006 Winter Olympics – Dmitry Dorofeyev
• 2008 Summer Olympics – Andrei Kirilenko
• 2010 Winter Olympics – Aleksey Morozov
• 2012 Summer Olympics – Maria Sharapova
• 2014 Winter Olympics – Alexander Zubkov
• 2016 Summer Olympics – Sergey Tetyukhin

See also

In Spanish: Rusia en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

• Category:Olympic competitors for Russia
• Russia at the Paralympics
• Russian Empire at the Olympics
• Soviet Union at the Olympics & Unified Team at the Olympics
• Doping in Russia