What country is ROC at the Olympics?

The first Tokyo medals were awarded and now the Aussies will take on the ROC, but what is the story behind this mysterious nation?

ROC in the house at the Olympic Games – but who are they?

One team has been high up on the Olympic medal tally but you may have never heard of it.

So exactly is ROC?

Its athletes are Russian, but they can’t currently represent Russia. Their gymnasts have had plenty of success, as ROC claimed another gold medal in Tuesday night’s women’s team event.

Russia’s anthem, flag and even its name are banned from major competitions until December 2022 as a result of the nation’s state sanctioned doping program.

Russian government officials have been barred from attending any major events, while the country has lost the right to host, or even bid, for tournaments.

The nation was handed a four-year ban from a wide range of international competitions including World Championships and the Olympics, although its clean athletes are allowed to compete.

However, they compete under the Russian Olympic Committee — hence ROC banner — at the Games.

The ROC pair in action.

That’s who the Aussie boys are facing.

But while the Russian Olympic Committee boss has claimed the athletes will have an unfair disadvantage, they still want to big haul of medals.

“The national flag and the national anthem are additional motivating factors … for any athlete,” Stanislav Pozdnyakov told AFP in an interview in Moscow ahead of the Games.

“Of course, we’ll have to perform without these missing elements. But the team is ready to compete for places on the podium. We’re anticipating to win 40 to 50 medals.”

Pozdnyakov’s goal about shoulders up to the 56 podium spots Russian athletes won in Brazil five years ago, but pales in comparison to the London Games when they returned with 82.

That’s because 2012 was a different era of Russian sports, before the country was embroiled in a doping scandal whose embarrassing fallout years later means there will be no Russian logo or anthem in Japan.

These penalties ultimately stem from a report published in 2015 by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which said Russia had instituted a far-reaching system of cheating with tacit approval from the highest levels of government.

Then in 2016, Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory, blew the whistle over state-backed doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics hosted in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Anastasiia Galashina has given Team ROC its first medal. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The sanctions were reduced at the end of 2020 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a decision that infuriated some observers but was hailed as victory in Russia.

In Tokyo, it means Russian athletes will compete under the name of the Russian Olympic Committee, whose symbol comprises a flame adjoined by stripes of red and blue – like the national flag.

The Russian anthem is replaced with music by national icon, composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and the official tracksuit will be decorated in Russia’s colours.

Pozdnyakov’s appointment itself in May 2018 was part of an effort by authorities to restore his organisation’s credibility.

Nagornyy’s Russian ‘typhoon’ storms to gymnastics team gold

Nikita Nagornyy’s Russian team stormed past defending champions Japan and superpower China to claim the coveted men’s artistic gymnastics gold at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday with the last tumble on the floor.

The Russians turned the tables on Japan, who had pipped them to the title in Rio in 2016. China had to settle for bronze.

“Do you remember the news about the typhoon (Tropical Storm Nepartak) this morning? Well, the typhoon has happened, we took the medal, so don’t worry about the typhoon anymore,” Nagornyy smiled.

Nagornyy was joined by Artur Dalaloyan -- the 2018 world all-around champion who was miraculously competing after recovering from surgery on a severed Achilles tendon in April.

Also in the team winning Russia’s first men’s team gold since Atlanta in 1996 were David Belyavskiy and Denis Ablyazin.

The Russian Olympic Committee is surely already the most successful committee in Olympic history.

— Gary Lineker 💙 (@GaryLineker) July 27, 2021

And they swelled with pride on top of the podium as Tchaikovsky’s concerto No.1 filtered out through the sound system at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. The Russian composer’s music was chosen to play the role of super sub, as Russia’s national anthem cannot be used because the country is under a doping suspension and its athletes are competing under a neutral banner.

The outcome of the first gold on offer at the gymnastics competition was in the balance right until the closing exercise.

China were within less than a point of the Rio silver medallists going into the sixth rotation, with Japan, the early pacesetters, on course for third.

David Belyavskiy, Nikita Nagornyy, Artur Dalaloyan and Denis Abliazin of Team ROC pose with the gold medal after winning the Men's Team Final on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Picture: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

As of Wednesday morning ROC have 18 medals, including 7 golds, four silvers and four bronzes.— with AFP