The Russian Federation competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was Russia's sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent nation. The nation finished fourth in the medal standings, with 19 gold and 56 total medals, ensuring that Soviet and Russian athletes had never placed below fourth since they started participating in 1952.
On 18 July 2016, an independent investigation commissioned by World Anti-Doping Agency concluded that it was shown "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the RUSADA, the Ministry of Sport, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Centre of Sports Preparation of the National Teams of Russia had "operated for the protection of doped Russian athletes" within a "state-directed failsafe system" using "the disappearing positive [test] methodology." According to the McLaren Report, the Disappearing Positive Methodology operated from "at least late 2011 to August 2015." It was used on 643 positive samples, a number that the authors consider "only a minimum" due to limited access to Russian records. Based on these findings the International Olympic Committee called for an emergency meeting to consider banning Russia from the Summer Olympics.
On 24 July, the IOC rejected WADA's recommendation to ban Russia from the Summer Olympics and announced that a decision would be made by each sport federation with each positive decision having to be approved by a CAS arbitrator. On 7 August 2016, the IOC cleared 278 athletes, while 111 were removed because of the scandal.
On 7 August 2016, the International Paralympic Committee announced that it had voted unanimously to ban the entire Russian Paralympic team from competing at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, in the wake of a larger scandal that exposed the participation of Russian Olympic and Paralympic athletes in a state-sponsored doping program.
On 8 December 2016, silver medalist Misha Aloyan was found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation after testing positive for Tuaminoheptane, a specified stimulant, prohibited in-competition under S6 on the WADA Prohibited List, during an in-competition doping control on 21 August 2016. The results obtained by the athlete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games were disqualified. ANTI-DOPING DIVISION OF THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT ISSUES DECISIONS IN THE CASE OF MISHA ALOIAN
On 9 December 2016, Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren published the second part of his independent report. The investigation claimed that from 2011 to 2015, more than 1,000 Russian competitors in various sports (including summer, winter, and Paralympic sports) were involved in a cover-up. Emails indicate that athletes who tested positive for banned substances included five blind powerlifters, who may have been given drugs without their knowledge, and a fifteen-year-old.
Medalists
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Medal Name Sport Event Date Judo Men's 60 kg Fencing Women's sabre Judo Men's 81 kg Fencing Women's foil Aleksey CheremisinovTimur Safin Fencing Men's team foil Yuliya GavrilovaYana EgorianSofya Velikaya Fencing Women's team sabre Elena Vesnina Tennis Women's doubles Gymnastics Women's uneven bars Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 75 kg Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 85 kg Boxing Men's heavyweight Svetlana Romashina Synchronized swimming Women's duet Natalia IshchenkoSvetlana KolesnichenkoAleksandra PatskevichElena ProkofyevaSvetlana RomashinaAlla ShishkinaGelena TopilinaMaria Shurochkina Synchronized swimming Women's team Handball Women's team Wrestling Men's freestyle 86 kg Gymnastics Women's rhythmic individual all-around Modern pentathlon Men's Anastasia BliznyukAnastasia MaksimovaAnastasiia TatarevaMaria Tolkacheva Gymnastics Women's rhythmic group all-around Wrestling Men's freestyle 65 kg Shooting Women's 10 m air pistol Ksenia PerovaInna Stepanova Archery Women's team Fencing Women's sabre David BelyavskiyNikolai KuksenkovNikita NagornyyIvan Stretovich Gymnastics Men's team Swimming Women's 100 m breaststroke Aliya MustafinaMaria PasekaDaria SpiridonovaSeda Tutkhalyan Gymnastics Women's team Cycling Women's road time trial Swimming Women's 200 m breaststroke Anastasia Voynova Cycling Women's team sprint Shooting Men's 50 m rifle three positions Gymnastics Women's vault Gymnastics Men's vault Wrestling Women's freestyle 58 kg Wrestling Women's freestyle 69kg Taekwondo Men's 68 kg Wrestling Men's freestyle 74 kg Gymnastics Women's rhythmic individual all-around Judo Women's 52 kg Fencing Men's foil Shooting Men's 10 m air rifle Swimming Men's 200 m breaststroke Violetta KolobovaTatiana LogunovaLyubov Shutova Fencing Women's team épée Gymnastics Women's artistic individual Swimming Men's 200 m backstroke Shooting Men's 50 m rifle prone Sailing Women's RS:X Cycling Men's sprint Gymnastics Men's rings Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 130 kg Canoeing Men's K-1 1000 metres Gymnastics Men's parallel bars Boxing Women's lightweight Boxing Men's bantamweight Wrestling Women's freestyle 75 kg Water polo Women's team Boxing Men's light welterweight Canoeing Men's C-1 1000 metres
Silver medalist Misha Aloyan was found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation after testing positive for Tuaminoheptane, a specified stimulant, prohibited in-competition under S6 on the WADA Prohibited List, during an in-competition doping control on 21 August 2016. The results obtained by the athlete in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games were disqualified. | style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;"|
Medals by sportSport TotalWrestling 4 3 2 9Fencing 4 1 2 7Gymnastics 3 5 3 11Judo 2 0 1 3Synchronized swimming 2 0 0 2Boxing 1 0 3 4Handball 1 0 0 1Modern pentathlon 1 0 0 1Tennis 1 0 0 1Shooting 0 2 2 4Swimming 0 2 2 4Cycling 0 2 1 3Archery 0 1 0 1Taekwondo 0 1 0 1Canoeing 0 0 2 2Sailing 0 0 1 1Water polo 0 0 1 1Total 19 17 20 56
Medals by dayDay Total6 August 1 0 0 17 August 0 2 2 48 August 1 3 1 59 August 1 1 0 210 August 1 1 1 311 August 0 1 3 412 August 1 1 1 313 August 1 0 0 114 August 3 2 2 715 August 2 1 2 516 August 1 0 3 417 August 0 2 1 318 August 0 1 2 319 August 1 1 2 420 August 4 1 0 521 August 2 1 0 3Total 19 17 20 56
Medals by genderGender TotalPercentageMale95132748.2%Female101272951.8%Total 19 17 20 56100%
Russian doping scandal
Media attention began growing in December 2014 when German broadcaster ARD reported on state-sponsored doping in Russia, comparing it to doping in East Germany. In November 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a report and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) suspended Russia indefinitely from world track and field events. The United Kingdom Anti-Doping agency later assisted WADA with testing in Russia. In June 2016, they reported that they were unable to fully carry out their work and noted intimidation by armed Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. After a Russian former lab director made allegations about the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, WADA commissioned an independent investigation led by Richard McLaren. McLaren's investigation found corroborating evidence, concluding in a report published in July 2016 that the Ministry of Sport and the FSB had operated a "state-directed failsafe system" using a "disappearing positive [test] methodology" (DPM) from "at least late 2011 to August 2015".
In response to these findings, WADA announced that RUSADA should be regarded as non-compliant with respect to the World Anti-Doping Code and recommended that Russia be banned from competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Commission (IOC) rejected the recommendation, stating that the IOC and each sport's international federation would make decisions on each athlete's individual basis. One day prior to the opening ceremony, 278 athletes were cleared to compete under the Russian flag, while 111 were removed because of doping.
Unlike the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee voted unanimously to ban the entire Russian team from the 2016 Summer Paralympics and suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee, having found evidence that the DPM was also in operation at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.
The IOC's decision on 24 July 2016 was widely criticized by both athletes and writers, as well as members of the Olympic Committee. WADA's president Craig Reedie said, "WADA is disappointed that the IOC did not heed WADA's Executive Committee recommendations that were based on the outcomes of the McLaren Investigation and would have ensured a straight-forward, strong and harmonized approach." On the IOC's decision to exclude Stepanova, WADA director general Olivier Niggli stated that his agency was "very concerned by the message that this sends whistleblowers for the future." A member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, Hayley Wickenheiser, wrote, "I ask myself if we were not dealing with Russia would this decision to ban a nation [have] been an easier one? I fear the answer is yes". Writing for Deutsche Welle in Germany, Olivia Gerstenberger said that the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach had "flunked" his first serious test, adding, "With this decision, the credibility of the organization is shattered once more, while that of state-sponsored doping actually receives a minor boost". Bild (Germany) described Bach as "Putin's poodle".
The positive evaluation of every eligible participant is to be confirmed by a CAS arbitrator, which is "independent from any sports organization involved in the Olympic Games Rio 2016". On 30 July 2016, the IOC specified that following each federation's positive evaluation and its arbitration approval, a three-person IOC panel would be making the final decision. Originally Russia submitted a list of 389 athletes for competition. On 7 August 2016, the IOC cleared 278 athletes, while 111 were removed because of the scandal.
Athletics On 17 June 2016, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced that Russia will not be permitted to field competitors in athletics due to the November 2015 doping-related temporary suspension of the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) from the IAAF, due to state-sponsored doping. Only Russian athletes tested mainly outside of the country under stringent measures would be allowed to participate in the 2016 Olympics. On 21 June 2016, the International Olympic Committee upheld the decision of the IAAF and banned ARAF from competing at the Summer Olympics. One month later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected separate ARAF and "68 Claimant Athletes" appeals of the IAAF decision.
On 24 July 2016, the IOC rejected the IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency recommendation that if allowed Russian athletes could only compete as "neutral" athletes under the Olympic flag. Out of the 68 ARAF submitted athletes, only Darya Klishina was allowed to compete.
Weightlifting Russian weightlifters had qualified their reduced maximum of six men's and four women's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships.
On 22 June 2016, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced that Russia would lose two quota places in Weightlifting at the 2016 Summer Olympics because of doping violations. IWF then went on to state that if the testing of 'B' samples proved to confirm that any country had three or more violations in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic re-testing programme, then that country would be suspended from international weightlifting for a period of one year, and would thereby be excluded from taking part in the Rio Olympics, alongside the already suspended Bulgaria. IWF clarified that after re-testing 'A' samples from 2008 and 2012 that the three countries thereby scheduled for suspension were Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. Russia appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 6 July 2016.