Russia, traditionally an Olympic power, will have just a handful of athletes at this year’s Paris Games. Here’s what you need to know about Russia at this year’s Olympics.

Are Russian athletes allowed to participate in the Olympics?

Individual Russian athletes who have been allowed to compete as neutrals in qualifying events can apply for entry to the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee has banned Russia from all team sports, however, because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

How do Russian athletes gain entry to the Olympics?

Russian athletes who want to compete in Paris must go through a two-stage approval process. They must petition the governing bodies of their sports, then be approved by an IOC review panel that judges if the athletes have expressed support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or have ties to sports clubs linked to the Russian military.

If approved by the IOC, Russian athletes will be considered Individual Neutral Athletes — abbreviated as AIN, after the French translation of that phrase — and will not be allowed to feature the Russian flag on their uniforms, instead wearing the red, white and blue of France’s flag. If a Russian athlete wins a gold medal, the country’s national anthem will be replaced by IOC-commissioned music and a generic AIN flag will be raised. (In previous Games when Russian athletes were limited, the Olympic flag had been raised.)

Medals won by Russian athletes will not be included in the official medal tally.

Can Russian athletes march in the opening ceremonies?

In March, the IOC announced that any Russian athletes who are allowed to compete in Paris would not be allowed to participate in the Opening Ceremonies. They will be allowed only “to experience the event,” which probably means watching as the parade of nations floats down the Seine.

What Russian athletes are competing at the Olympics?

As of July 5, 15 Russian athletes had accepted invitations to compete at the Olympics. Six of them were tennis players: World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev (the 2021 U.S. Open champion), Pavel Kotov, Roman Safiullin, Ekaterina Aleksandrova, Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider.

What Russian athletes will not be competing at the Olympics?

Russian athletes won two of the eight gold medals awarded in taekwondo at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but the IOC did not approve any Russian athletes in that sport this year.

Russian athletes won silver medals in two team sports — men’s volleyball and women’s handball — at the Tokyo Olympics. Men’s volleyball teams featuring Russian athletes have won a medal 11 of 15 times the sport has been offered at the Olympics, including in five of the past six Games. Russian women’s handball teams have appeared in the final in each of the past two Olympics, winning gold in 2016. Neither will be allowed to compete this year.

In early July, the Russian wrestling federation said all 10 of its athletes who were offered Olympic spots will refuse to compete. The 10 wrestlers would have been the largest group of Russian athletes competing in one sport this year.

Has Ukraine commented on the Russian Olympic sanctions?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a number of athletes from that country have asked the IOC to impose a blanket ban on all Russian athletes and have threatened to boycott the Games.

“It is obvious that any neutral flag of Russian athletes is stained with blood,” Zelensky said in 2023 before referring to a city in eastern Ukraine that was devastated at the start of Russia’s invasion. “I invite [IOC President Thomas Bach] to Bakhmut so that he could see with his own eyes that neutrality does not exist.”

Does the ban apply to anyone else?

Belarusian athletes face the same restrictions as Russian athletes. Belarus has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, permitting Russian troops to drill there and allowing them to invade Ukrainian territory from Belarus at the start of the conflict.

As of July 5, 16 Belarusian athletes had accepted invitations to compete, including defending men’s trampoline gold medalist Ivan Litvinovich and swimmer Ilya Shymanovich, the world record holder in the short-course 100-meter breaststroke.

How did Russian athletes perform at the last Olympics?

Russian athletes competed under the Russian Olympic Committee flag at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as punishment for the country’s long-running doping program. The 335 ROC athletes in 30 sports won 20 gold and 71 total medals, finishing fifth in the medal table.

Have any other nations been banned from previous Olympics?

After World War II, Germany and Japan were not invited to the 1948 London Olympics. South Africa was banned from all Olympics from 1964 to 1988 because of its apartheid government.