A look back at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, marred by an international boycott and the sudden death of the bard Vladimir Vysotsky.

After a three-year absence, Olympic champion Yevgeny Plyuschenko is staging a comeback.

Russia has truly regained its prowess as a sports superpower, and it may rise further yet. It will surely be giving the U.S. a run for its money in the overall medals race at the Beijing Olympics in August... this rise in sports achievement takes place against the backdrop of a Russia that, without putting too fine a point on it, has bumbled from failure to failure in foreign policy in recent months

From rather inauspicious origins in the Ural mountains, Konstantin Tszyu has gone on to become the world's greatest boxer in his weight class. But he has never lost his perspective.

Olympics news, TV schedules, events, medals and more.

Russia and the politics of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Also, list of Russian 2002 Olympic hopefuls by sport.

Due to the sports doping ban about which much has been written, Russia was not allowed to compete in the Tokyo Olympics this summer. But Russian athletes did compete under the “flag” of the “Russian Olympic Committee” (ROC).