Russia at recent Winter Olympic Games

Russia's involvement in recent Winter Olympics has been punctuated by doping scandals amid strong performances.

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF RUSSIA AT RECENT WINTER OLYMPICS

SALT LAKE CITY 2002 - FIFTH (five gold, four silver, four bronze medals): Cross-country skiers Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova were stripped of their respective gold and silver medals after testing positive to darbepoetin, a performance-enhancing drug so new at the time it wasn't yet on the banned list. The country dominated figure skating with two gold and three silver.

TURIN 2006 - FOURTH (eight gold, six silver, eight bronze): Biathlete Olga Pyleva was stripped of her silver medal and banished after testing positive to the stimulant carphedon. Russia claimed gold in cross country skiing, biathlon, figure skating and speed skating events.

VANCOUVER 2010 - 11th (three gold, five silver, seven bronze): Flopped, prompting concerns ahead of their home Games in four years' time. "Taking into account what happened in Vancouver, we need to completely change how we prepare our athletes," then president Dmitry Medvedev said.

SOCHI 2014 - FIFTH (nine gold, five silver, eight bronze): Originally topped the medal count, ahead of Norway. But 11 medals won in biathlon, bobsled, cross-country skiing, skeleton and speed skating events, including four gold, were stripped for athletes being involved in state-sponsored doping.

PYEONGCHANG 2018: No athletes representing Russia will be allowed to compete. Individual Russian athletes can compete as neutrals if they have proven they have no previous anti-doping violations and have undergone targeted testing.