With a year to go until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, one of Russia's long-distance swimming greats hopes the Games will be a chance for athletes from his country to put a damaging scandal behind them.

Russian Olympians will march under their own flag in Tokyo for the first time since the end of a three-year games ban stemming from allegations of a state-backed doping program.

Russian Swimming Federation president Vladimir Salnikov, a two-time 1,500-meter freestyle gold medalist, said he hopes the Tokyo Games will be free from incidents that could overshadow the competition between the world's best athletes.

"There is still a crisis in the Olympics, but the importance of sporting competition remains unchanged," Salnikov told Kyodo News at the Russian national swimming championships in April.

(Vladimir Salnikov at the Russian national swimming championships in April, 2019)

The 59-year-old knows firsthand how forces outside the control of athletes can impact their careers, having achieved greatness during one of the most tumultuous periods of Olympic history.

He won his first gold medal competing for the Soviet Union at the 1980 Moscow Games, which were boycotted by the United States, Japan and dozens of other nations over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

For athletes from the boycotting countries, four years of preparation went to waste, while the remaining competitors, including those from the host nation, were left to feel as though their achievements in the sporting arena would be diminished.

Salnikov remembers his frustration at learning he would be denied a men's 1,500 meters showdown with American world record holder Brian Goodell, who had won gold four years earlier in Montreal.

Nicknamed the "Tsar or the Pool," the Soviet champion had established himself as the man to beat over the distance at the 1978 world championships, where he won the 1,500 and 400, the latter in world-record time. He also set the 800 record the following year.

At the age of 20, Salnikov was determined to become the first to swim the 1,500 in under 15 minutes in Moscow, while at the same time breaking Goodell's world mark of 15:02.40.

"Winning by itself was not enough. I would not have felt like a true winner without a world record. I had to break the 15-minute barrier," Salnikov said.

(Vladimir Salnikov after winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle at 1980 Moscow Olympics)[Popperfoto/Getty/Kyodo]

Unable to pace himself against his main rival during the 1,500 final, Salnikov controlled his timing by peeking at the poolside clock. He touched the wall in a world-record 14:58.27.

Following his victory in Moscow, Salnikov continued to dominate the pool. He defended his world titles in 1982 before lowering the 1,500 record to 14:54.76 at the European championships the following year.

But his hopes of defending his Olympic title were dashed when the Soviet Union announced a retaliatory boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Salnikov was at a training camp in East Germany when he heard the news.

"I felt as though I was going to collapse," he recalled.

With Salnikov prevented from competing, American Michael O'Brien took 1,500 gold in Los Angeles in a time of 15:05.20, more than 10 seconds slower than the Soviet swimmer's world record.

Salnikov would be 28 by the time the Seoul Olympics were held in 1988. Sensing the aging great would not be strong enough to qualify, the Soviet Union's top coach had Salnikov dismissed from his squad.

(Vladimir Salnikov celebrates winning the men's 1,500-meter freestyle gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics)

But determined to earn another shot at Olympic gold, the Tsar of the Pool turned to his wife Marina, a sports psychologist and former Soviet track and field record holder, who became his coach. Although he did not make the qualifying time, he ended up being included in the team anyway following the intervention of the sports ministry.

It turned out to be a winning decision, as Salnikov swam to an improbable 1,500 victory in Seoul.

Swimming in the final, Salnikov felt joy in "harnessing the power in every muscle," while also feeling a sadness, knowing it would be his last race.

He touched the wall in 15:00.40, well outside his best, but good enough for a storybook victory eight years after his world-record swim in Moscow.

Asked by a poolside reporter whether he could believe he had won the gold medal, Salnikov replied in English with a straightforward "No."

That night, Salnikov received an ovation as he entered the dining room at the athletes' village. While paying tribute to his achievements, many fellow athletes also acknowledged the effect of successive boycotts on his legacy.

Three years after Salnikov's victory in Seoul, the Soviet Union dissolved, granting self-governing independence to its republics.

After Russia won its bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, many saw the Games as an opportunity to put to rest the painful memories of the 1980 boycott.

While the Sochi Games were initially considered a success, they were tarnished afterward by wide-ranging allegations that Russia had systematically given athletes performance-enhancing drugs.

Russia was eventually slapped with a three-year suspension from the Olympics. All Russians who competed at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games did so as neutral athletes and were not allowed to wear national uniforms or have their country's anthem played at medal ceremonies.

With Russia making its official return in Tokyo, Salnikov wants athletes from around the world to embrace the spirit of friendly competition in which the modern Olympics were originally conceived.

"I am praying for the Tokyo Games to be a success," he said.