--- description: Here's why Russian athletes are competing under the flag of the ROC, or Russian Olympic Committee, at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. title: Here's What to Know About the ROC and Why Russia Can't Compete At the Beijing Olympics image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5a4dae831252a41/698a222e096a9471276ac374/beijing-olympics-russia-roc.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [olympics](/tag/olympics/) ## olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's What to Know About the ROC and Why Russia Can't Compete At the Beijing Olympics  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 12:57 AM CUTPublished: Jul 27, 2021 3:00 AM CUT  Flag bearers Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov of Team ROC carry their flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04, 2022 in Beijing, China. Flag bearers Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov of Team ROC carry their flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04, 2022 in Beijing, China.David Ramos–Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 12:57 AM CUTPublished: Jul 27, 2021 3:00 AM CUT Those tuning into the [2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing](https://time.com/6143718/athlete-tests-covid-19-positive-2022-beijing-olympics/ "undefined") may notice that [Russian athletes](https://time.com/6083680/gymnastics-russia-biles/ "undefined") are competing under the flag of the ROC, or Russian Olympic Committee, rather than their native country. That’s because the 212 Russian athletes participating in this year’s Winter Games are considered “neutrals” due to the fact that Russia is currently banned from the Olympics. In 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from all international sporting competitions, including the Olympics, for four years over a doping scandal. The punishment was cut in half to two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport following a 2020 appeal and now ends in December 2022\. But at this year’s Olympics, Russia still can’t be represented as a country. This led to the creation of the ROC, a workaround for Russian athletes who have proven they weren’t connected to the doping scandal to still be able to compete first in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and now in Beijing. **Read more:** [_Everything to Know About the Beijing Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony_](https://time.com/6141429/beijing-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-2022/ "undefined") ## How does the ROC work? Just as in Tokyo, while the Russian athletes in Beijing are still wearing the Russian colors of white, blue and red, under the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) rules, they’re prohibited from displays of national representation in any form. “All public displays of the organization’s participant name should use the acronym ‘ROC,’ not the full name ‘Russian Olympic Committee,'” the IOC rules state. **Read more:** [_What Happens if an Athlete Tests Positive at the Beijing Olympics_](https://time.com/6143718/athlete-tests-covid-19-positive-2022-beijing-olympics/ "undefined") This means that instead of the Russian flag, the ROC is represented by a flag featuring an Olympic flame in Russian colors above the five Olympic rings. If a ROC athlete or team wins gold, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1” will play instead of the Russian national anthem. The ROC has been predicted to finish in the top three in the final medal standings, according to sports data company [Grace-note](https://www.gracenote.com/virtual-medal-table/ "undefined"). ## Why is Russia banned from the Olympics? The World Anti-Doping Agency’s ban on Russia was put in place after investigators found that Russia had tampered with drug-testing data in order to cover up state-sponsored doping programs that involved over 1,000 athletes. **Read more:** [_How the U.S. Boycott of the Beijing Olympics Is Splitting the World_](https://time.com/6129154/beijing-olympics-boycott/ "undefined") “The Panel has clearly upheld our findings that the Russian authorities brazenly and illegally manipulated the Moscow Laboratory data in an effort to cover up an institutionalized doping scheme,” World Anti-Doping Agency President Witold Bańka said in a [statement](https://www.wada-ama.org/en/media/news/2020-12/wada-statement-on-court-of-arbitration-decision-to-declare-russian-anti-doping "undefined") following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s 2020 ruling on the case. “In the face of continual resistance and denial from Russia, we clearly proved our case, in accordance with due process.” Russia also can’t be represented as a country at the 2022 World Cup, which is set to take place before the ban is lifted in December 2022. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6084195/what-is-roc-olympics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6084195/what-is-roc-olympics/"},"headline":"Here's What to Know About the ROC and Why Russia Can't Compete At the Beijing Olympics","datePublished":"2021-07-27T03:00:35.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T00:57:25.000Z","description":"The Russian athletes participating in this year's Summer Games are considered \"neutrals\"","url":"https://time.com/6084195/what-is-roc-olympics/","keywords":["olympics","Explainer","2020 Tokyo Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5a4dae831252a41/698a222e096a9471276ac374/beijing-olympics-russia-roc.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5a4dae831252a41/698a222e096a9471276ac374/beijing-olympics-russia-roc.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Beijing Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony","caption":"Beijing Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony","creditText":"David Ramos–Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6084195/what-is-roc-olympics/","name":"Here's What to Know About the ROC and Why Russia Can't Compete At the Beijing Olympics"}}]}] ```