.RUSSIA IS AN Olympic powerhouse. The country has actually finished near the best of the award table at every summer months Olympics due to the fact that 1984, when it decided not to participate in protest at the video games being held in Los Angeles. Also at the Tokyo games in 2021, when the Russian staff was officially prohibited, sportsmens contending under the banner of the Russian Olympic Board achieved to gain 71 awards and also finish 5th. Yet this excellence will certainly not be duplicated in Paris. Simply a handful of Russians were actually invited a number of all of them have declined to contend. Why?