Sport in Russia
Ice hockey came in second with handball, basketball, futsal, boxing, auto racing, volleyball, athletics, tennis, and chess rounding out the top ten rankings.
[2] Other popular sports include bandy, biathlon, figure skating, weightlifting, gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, rugby union, and skiing.
Soviet and later Russian athletes never finished below fourth place in the number of gold and total medals collected at the Summer Olympics in which they competed.
Russia has the most medals stripped for doping violations (51), the most of any country, four times the number of the runner-up, and nearly a third of the global total.
[6] The IOC called on individual federations to ban Russian athletes from participating in any international events until further notice.
However, the researchers point out that the survey was conducted one month after the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, which might explain the dominance of winter sports.
[30] The National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended all business activities in Russia, including broadcasts.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) banned Russia and Belarus athletes and officials.
FIE Russian President Alisher Usmanov stepped down after the European Union imposed economic sanctions on him.
[36] In June 2022, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) President, was removed from his position as European Fencing Confederation (EFC) President at an Extraordinary Congress following a unanimous vote of no confidence in Pozdnyakov in March 2022, due to his xenophobic conduct in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
[citation needed] After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Skating Union banned all athletes from Russia from events until further notice.
[39] The first football teams in the Russian Empire appeared in the late 1870s, but they consisted of foreigners living in Russia (English, Scottish, German).
On 28 February 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in accordance with a recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), FIFA and UEFA suspended the participation of Russia, including in the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
[48] In Russia, mixed martial arts (MMA) is another popular sport producing world class international and national fighters.
Other names to highlight are Islam Makhachev, Khamzat Chimaev, Petr Yan, Alexey Oleynik, Volk Han, Oleg Taktarov and Ali Bagautinov.
"[51] Sambo was created in the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union, by both Russian-born Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov.
The word Sambo is an acronym of samozashchita bez oruzhiya (Russian: самозащита без оружия), which literally translates to 'self-defence without weapons'.
[57] It also suspended all Russian officials appointed to its Commissions and Working Groups by the executive board, and made Russia ineligible to host any of its events.
[58] In May 2023, the International Ski Federation (FIS) extended its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials at its events.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Russia swept the women's tennis podium with Elena Dementieva winning the gold, Safina and Vera Zvonareva the silver and bronze.
Other notable Russian players include Nikolay Davydenko, who won the ATP Finals in 2009, Mikhail Youzhny and Karen Khachanov.
[63] However, the ATP and the WTA refused to yield to international pressure to ban individual players from competition.
[66] In April 2022, the organisers of the Wimbledon Championships, a Grand Slam-level event in the UK, banned players representing Russia from entering the 2022 edition of the competition.
[74] Russia has produced multiple Olympic and World wrestling champions, including 3 time Greco-Roman Olympic gold medalist Alexander Karelin, who was named the greatest ever Greco-Roman wrestler of the 20th century by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA),[75] Wrestling is the most accessible and played out sport for boys and young adults in Russia especially in the Caucasus Republics and regions (Chechnya, Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, North-Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia).
Russia was ranked 25th worldwide by the International Rugby Board (IRB) in March 2022,[76] with over 100 clubs and close to 20,000 players nationally.
The 1990s were dominated by Kasparov, who won most of the tournaments that he participated in and reached a then-record rating of 2851 on the July 1999 list.
[85] The Russian Grand Prix joined the calendar for the 2014 Formula One season, held at the Sochi Autodrom.
[87] After the Russian invasion led to sanctions from the EU, including some against Uralkali, a company owned by Nikita Mazepin's father, Haas sacked him ahead of the first race.
[71] Individual Russian competitors were allowed to enter races as neutrals, without their national symbols, flags, colors, and anthems.
Former World Touring Car Champion Robert Huff gave Lada their first WTCC win at the 2014 Beijing round.
