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RIA Novosti
August 31, 2004
POST-OLYMPIC THOUGHTS

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti analyst Vasily Zubkov)

The Olympic torch went out. The guests and athletes went home. It is time to summarize the results. How did the Russian team perform at the birthplace of the Olympic movement?

After the first week of the Olympic Games, when Russia lost several gold medals for different reasons, objective (swimming) and subjective (gymnastics), Russian fans seemed to be filled with gloom and disbelief. Older generations also felt ashamed, as they had seen other Olympic Games that were dominated by only two powers - the Soviet Union and the United States.

For many years, sport was a continuation of confrontations in politics, ideology and culture. Victory at the Olympic Games meant victory of a people's advancements in sports, it symbolized the health of nation and its prestige. The times have changed, however brilliant victories in sports still are very meaningful in terms of the international image of any state. Therefore, states spend as much money as they can to prepare their athletes for the Olympics.

Sports officials forecasted that in Athens Russia could "compete for first place in the medal count." Unfortunately, these expectations were not met, as first place became unattainable for Russia during the first week of the Games. But the other prediction of Russia's stunning defeat on all Olympic fronts also was incorrect. Once again, a popular Russian proverb was illustrated: Russians are slow at harnessing, but fast at riding.

By the end of the Games, the Russian team surprised all observers, including the old IOC functionary, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who had rushed to publicly declare his disappointment in Russian athletes, by an exuberant finish. It seemed that if the Olympic Games had continued for another day or two, Russia would have reached first place in the medal count. Nevertheless, Russia (92) was second on the medal table only to the United States (103) and was third in terms of gold medals behind China.

Dismissing some misunderstandings and peculiarities with the refereeing in Athens as subjective factors, one must honestly admit that Russia's results are fair - they were neither good nor bad. Bismark once said that Russia would never be as strong as it would like to be, but would never be as weak as others would like it to. Perhaps, these words are true in this case too.

Russian sports, including major sports, reflects the general situation in Russia's society and economy. The changes brought about by the turbulent transition period from one social and political regime to another certainly influenced the development of sports. It is enough to recall the flea markets around and inside stadiums, the supermarkets that replaced children's sport schools, and the miserable wages of state coaches and the similarly miserable allowances for promising athletes, which forced many leading sport specialists to leave Russia. Russia's Olympic results were also influenced by the growth of elite and profitable sports, such as tennis and alpine skiing, while popular sports were forgotten. Russia was among the top three in the medal count not due to, but despite the logic of events.

Remarkably, the Soviet experience of training top-notch athletes was not forgotten. This was illustrated by the brilliant China, which took second place. Just four years ago in Sydney, Chinese athletes won 59 medals in 12 events. In Greece they won 62 medals in 20 disciplines. Beijing's Olympic breakthrough was primarily due to the state's attention to sports and the use of the best coaches in the world - including Soviet and Russian coaches - to train athletes. China was lucky to have hundreds of Soviet coaches before the collapse of the Soviet Union and now dozens of Russian ones. Even the United States must give credit to its Russian gymnastics coach for its medals. The conclusion is evident: Russians should remember and be creative about what they used to have and the state should spare no expense to develop children's and amateur sports. Professional athletes can earn their own money.

At the Olympic Games in Greece, Russians did not only support their athletes; they also rooted for the Ukrainians, the Belarussians, the Kazakhs, the Georgians and other CIS and post-Soviet neighbors. A team consisting of the former Soviet republics, which are independent and sovereign states now, would have won the Olympic Games easily.

In Greece, they together earned 10 more gold medals than the Americans and had 59 more total medals. The sports fundamentals laid during the Soviet Union were solid.