Russian Olympic Team Set Out for 2018 Winter Olympics

After a year-long doping controversy, finally, 169 member Russian Olympic team set out for 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in PyeongChang, South Korea. From a total of 389 athletes, only 169 athletes have qualified the required drug tests for PyeongChang Olympics and it will be the smallest group representing Russia in Winter Olympics in the past one decade. Before departing for the Olympics, the Russian team gathered at Novo-Ogaryovo, the residence of President Putin near Moscow. In an emotional moment, Pavel Datsyuk, the Magic Man of Russian Ice Hockey team presented a signed jersey of Russian Olympic team to President Putin saying - "You are the captain of our country."

Olympic Athlete From Russia (OAR)

From the past few years, it has not been going well for the Russian athletes and sports lovers. After a row of documentary and reports from German public broadcaster ARD and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) respectively, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) made an announcement suspending Russia from all field and track events in November 2015. After this, in December 2017, International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also suspended Russian Olympic Committee and announced a conditional participation for drug-test qualified Russian athletes. In Winter Olympics 2018, the Russian flag and anthem won't be present and the athletes will participate as Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR) under the Olympic flag.

2018 Winter Olympics Events and Russian Athletes Participation

Russian athletes are competing in 15 Olympics sports and the Olympic team comprises of 80 women and 88 men athletes. In Ice Hockey sport, the highest number of athletes that is 25 men and 23 women players have qualified. Similarly, in Freestyle Skiing, a total of 22 athletes (12 women and 10 men), in Snowboarding, 16 players (9 men and 7 women), and in Figure skating, 15 Russian players (8 women and 7 men) have qualified to participate.

Russian Olympic Hockey Team Roaster

Russian Ice Hockey Team (Men) for Winter Olympics 2018
Position	Player Name	Player Name	Position
G	Igor Shestyorkin	Ilya Kovalchuk	F
G	Ilya Sorokin	Ivan Telegin	F
G	Vasily Koshechkin	Kirill Kaprizov	F
D	Alexey Marchenko	Mikhail Grigorenko	F
D	Andrey Zubarev	Nikita Gusev	F
D	Artem Zub	Nikolay Prokhorkin	F
D	Bogdan Kiselevich	Pavel Datsyuk	F
D	Nikita Nesterov	Sergei Andronov	F
D	Vladislav Gavrikov	Sergei Mozyakin	F
D	Vyacheslav Voynov	Sergei Shirokov	F
F	Alexander Barabanov	Sergey Kalinin	F
F	Dinar Khafizullin	Vadim Shipachyov	F
F	Ilya Kablukov	G - Goaltender, D - Defenceman, F - Forward

Russian Olympic Team to Shine in Winter Olympics - 'All About Olympics'

Though the doping controversy has taken a toll over the Russian Olympic team, the athletes are not down and are full of energy and enthusiasm. Among all the controversy and criticism, as the young Russian speed skater Sophia Prosvirnova has rightly said, "We know we are Russians inside," the Russian athletes will come out stronger in 2018 Winter Olympics. Although there won't be any Russian anthem in the medal ceremony, whenever a Russian Olympic athlete will climb the medal podium, the Russian flag will fly high in the sky and every Russian heart will surely sing - "Rossíya — svyashchénnaya násha derzháva..."