With the Russian Track and Field team recently banned from the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics, I'm wondering if any athlete has ever won medals, gold on particular, under the Olympic flag in the Winter or Summer Games.
Athletes normally compete under the flag of the country they're from, but complications can lead to an athlete competing independently under the Olympic flag.
If independents have won medals, why did they compete independently? If an athlete is of Olympic medal-winning calibre, why wouldn't any country want the athlete to compete for them?