Russia has been one of the most dominant countries in Olympics history. It hasn't finished outside the top-four of the medals tally since it started competing as the Soviet Union during the 1952 Helsinki Games.
After being separated from the Soviet Union, Russia has won 149 gold, 125 silver and 152 bronze medals at the Olympic Games. Just when it had the possibility of breaching the 500 overall-medal mark, the country was banned from the quadrennial sporting spectacle.
Furthermore, Russia cannot compete in international sporting events, including the Tokyo Olympics, Paralympics and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, due to a two-year ban imposed on it by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
- HERE’S THE REASON -
In January 2019, the WADA had declared the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) non-compliant after it was accused of manipulating drug-testing data. The world organisation found evidence of systematic mass doping among Russian athletes.
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Russia was initially banned for four years. WADA's executive committee took the decision after it concluded that Moscow had tampered with laboratory data by planting fake evidence and deleting files linked to positive doping tests.
Samples dated back to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where the accusations were first made of a state-backed doping program. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) eventually reduced Russia's international ban to two years in December, 2019. The ban will now run until December 16, 2022.
The RUSADA had been suspended by WADA from 2015 to 2018 due to similar issues. The current ban means Russia will not be allowed to use its name, flag and anthem in any major sporting event for the next two years. The country also cannot host international competitions during the same period.
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