Amid a lackluster start to the London Olympics by Team Russia, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has threatened to "draw very harsh conclusions in certain sports" ­ hinting at shake-ups in sports federations that fail to produce sufficient medals.

file photoThe team's performance so far has been roughly on a par with the same point in Beijing four years ago, when Russia had 31 Olympic medals, including seven gold medals, by the end of Day 9. This time around, Team Russia has garnered 35 medals over the same period, but has won only four gold medals.

Final conclusions about Russia's performance in London will be drawn when the Olympics are over, as was the case at the latest Olympics in Vancouver, where Russia finished a disappointing 11th in the medal count. Its delegation was controversially remembered for throwing extravagant parties, with vodka fountains set up at improvised gas stations in Russia House.

The Russian National Olympic Committee was reshuffled in 2010 after an Audit Chamber report revealed financial abuse and administrative mismanagement during preparations for the Games.

Mutko, a longstanding official from President Vladimir Putin's St. Petersburg team since the early 1990s, managed to save his post.

Ahead of the London Olympics, Mutko said that he would resign only if shortcomings in his work resulted in the national team's failure.

The Russian Olympic Committee put the national team's gold medal target at somewhere between 20 and 30 in a total of 302 medal events. Russia will compete primarily with Britain and Germany for the third place in the final medal count. At the end of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Russia ranked third with 23 gold medals.

Chinese and U.S. athletes earned 51 and 36 gold medals, respectively.

Without waiting for the end of the London Olympics, Russia's fencing head coach, Vladislav Pavlovich, announced his resignation last Saturday after his team failed to bring a gold across 10 medal events, yielding one bronze and two silver medals. Four years ago Russia won one Olympic medal in the event when the women's foil team defeated America in the final. Pavlovich was followed by shooting head coach Igor Zolotaryov, whose team brought only one bronze after two silver and two bronze medals in Beijing.

The Russian tennis team failed to repeat its successful performance in Beijing, where it occupied the podium in women's singles competitions. In London U.S. Serena Williams slaughtered Russia's flag bearer Maria Sharapova. Greco- Roman wrestlers yielded one gold medal so far against three in Beijing over the same period. Three of Russia's current four gold medals were won in men's judo, a sport in which Russia had no medalists at all four years ago.

The poor performance in Beijing called for a serious change in the judo team and in November 2008 Italian Ezio Gamba took over as head coach from Russian Sergei Tabakov. Gamba's contract expires at the end of 2012 but the Italian, who won his only Olympic gold in Moscow in 1980, has already said he would like to continue coaching Russian judokas.

Russia's new Olympic Committee chief, Alexander Zhukov, who previously served as Deputy Prime Minister for seven years, said at his latest news conference in London that Russia is developing its own sports management system. He added that several countries, primarily China, have mirrored the Soviet system, which is difficult for Russia to restore.

Listing problems that Russian sport is facing, Zhukov said that sports schools often use obsolete equipment and that many facilities require extensive repairs.

Keywords: Russia, Sports, Olympics, London, Sochi - Russian News - Russia - Johnson's Russia List

Amid a lackluster start to the London Olympics by Team Russia, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has threatened to "draw very harsh conclusions in certain sports" ­ hinting at shake-ups in sports federations that fail to produce sufficient medals.

file photoThe team's performance so far has been roughly on a par with the same point in Beijing four years ago, when Russia had 31 Olympic medals, including seven gold medals, by the end of Day 9. This time around, Team Russia has garnered 35 medals over the same period, but has won only four gold medals.

Final conclusions about Russia's performance in London will be drawn when the Olympics are over, as was the case at the latest Olympics in Vancouver, where Russia finished a disappointing 11th in the medal count. Its delegation was controversially remembered for throwing extravagant parties, with vodka fountains set up at improvised gas stations in Russia House.

The Russian National Olympic Committee was reshuffled in 2010 after an Audit Chamber report revealed financial abuse and administrative mismanagement during preparations for the Games.

Mutko, a longstanding official from President Vladimir Putin's St. Petersburg team since the early 1990s, managed to save his post.

Ahead of the London Olympics, Mutko said that he would resign only if shortcomings in his work resulted in the national team's failure.

The Russian Olympic Committee put the national team's gold medal target at somewhere between 20 and 30 in a total of 302 medal events. Russia will compete primarily with Britain and Germany for the third place in the final medal count. At the end of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Russia ranked third with 23 gold medals.

Chinese and U.S. athletes earned 51 and 36 gold medals, respectively.

Without waiting for the end of the London Olympics, Russia's fencing head coach, Vladislav Pavlovich, announced his resignation last Saturday after his team failed to bring a gold across 10 medal events, yielding one bronze and two silver medals. Four years ago Russia won one Olympic medal in the event when the women's foil team defeated America in the final. Pavlovich was followed by shooting head coach Igor Zolotaryov, whose team brought only one bronze after two silver and two bronze medals in Beijing.

The Russian tennis team failed to repeat its successful performance in Beijing, where it occupied the podium in women's singles competitions. In London U.S. Serena Williams slaughtered Russia's flag bearer Maria Sharapova. Greco- Roman wrestlers yielded one gold medal so far against three in Beijing over the same period. Three of Russia's current four gold medals were won in men's judo, a sport in which Russia had no medalists at all four years ago.

The poor performance in Beijing called for a serious change in the judo team and in November 2008 Italian Ezio Gamba took over as head coach from Russian Sergei Tabakov. Gamba's contract expires at the end of 2012 but the Italian, who won his only Olympic gold in Moscow in 1980, has already said he would like to continue coaching Russian judokas.

Russia's new Olympic Committee chief, Alexander Zhukov, who previously served as Deputy Prime Minister for seven years, said at his latest news conference in London that Russia is developing its own sports management system. He added that several countries, primarily China, have mirrored the Soviet system, which is difficult for Russia to restore.

Listing problems that Russian sport is facing, Zhukov said that sports schools often use obsolete equipment and that many facilities require extensive repairs.