Athletes have competed as independent Olympians at the Olympic Games for various reasons, including political transition, international sanctions, suspensions of National Olympic Committees, and compassion. Independent athletes have come from North Macedonia, East Timor, South Sudan and Curaçao following geopolitical changes in the years before the Olympics, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia and Montenegro) as a result of international sanctions, and from India and Kuwait due to the suspensions of their National Olympic Committees. Starting from 2018, athletes from Russia have competed under a neutral designation for various reasons, mainly mass violations of anti-doping rules and since 2022, the Belarus-assisted invasion of Ukraine.
Apart from Russian athletes who won more than hundred medals under a neutral designation, medals were won by independent Olympians at the 1992 and 2016 Olympics, both times in shooting. The naming and country code conventions for these independent Olympians have not been consistent. Independent Paralympians have participated at Paralympic Games for the same reasons as independent Olympians.
