EDITORIAL
Annals of Russian Sports Humiliation:
A Beijing Olympics Recap
In the months before the Olympics, as we’ve previously reported, Russia made news by winning a European basketball title and reaching the playoffs of a European soccer tournament. Russian fans celebrated as if some new sports era were dawning in Russia, ignoring the feeble nature of its match victories and the fact that their soccer coach was not even a Russian. We took due note of that fact, and wondered if Russia’s “victories” weren’t in fact nothing more than freak occurrences unlikely to be repeated.
So we hardly found it much of a surprise to learn that Russia wasn’t exactly able to keep a good thing going. At the Beijing Olympiad Russia didn’t even send a male or female team to the soccer events and its men’s basketball team went down to utterly humiliating defeat. Russia’s male hoopsters placed fifth out of six teams in their pool group, winning only one game in round-robin play and ahead of only lowly Iran. They ended up being ranked 9th of 12 teams in the competition, excluded from the medal round of competition and bested by the likes of Greece and China, ahead of the likes of Angola.
In other words, by the end of the games Russia appeared to be a total fraud in both the sports where it had claimed alleged glory just months before.
And there was more bad news — much, much more. In fact, that failure was only the tip of the iceberg.
As is so often the case with Russia, it at least did better on the women’s side in basketball, where its team placed second in its group behind undefeated Australia. Yet the only way Russia was able to accomplish this feat was by using an America player, Becky Hammon, to save it from disaster. Russia made the top four in the overall rankings, and beat Spain in its quarterfinals match; but Hammon scored 17 points in that contest, to lead all but one of the Russian players on the team. Without the American, no victory. How should real Russian athletes feel if their country tells them they need to bring in a foreigner with sham citizenship just to be competitive. Can’t be very good for their confidence, can it?
Russia’s lady b-ballers then, ironically, faced the United States in the medal round, where they were easily crushed by the much more powerful American side, losing in meek fashion by 15 points and getting relegated to the bronze medal contest. Couldn’t Russia have done at least that well even without an American on its team? Did Hammon really sell out her country for a lowly bronze medal, at best?
Making matters worse for Russia, not only did it fail miserably but the U.S.A. performed brilliantly, dominating the world in the total medal count and nearly doubling Russia’s achievement in gold medals. It fielded soccer teams in both the men’s and women’s events; its men’s squad did not win a medal, but it’s female team won gold. The U.S.A. also won gold in both the men’s and women’s basketball events, crushing their competition by wide margins. So the U.S.A. took gold medals in Beijing in three of the four events in sports Russia recently claimed excellence, and Russia got only one medal in those four events, a lowly bronze.
Basketball wasn’t the only place where the mighty U.S.A. slapped down the Russians, denying them a shot at the gold medal and relegating them to contending for a bronze. The same thing happened in the men’s volleyball semi-finals. Not only did the U.S. men’s volleyball team reach the gold-medal match and win it, the U.S. womens’ team also reached the gold medal match, taking silver while the Russian women didn’t even reach the medal round of play.
Russia finished the Beijing Games with a pathetic total of just 23 gold medals, in third place overall, and its gold medal total was highly misleading. As we reported previously, six of those medals were won in wrestling by athletes with names like Mavlet, Buvaysa and Shirvani — hardly names a “real” (i.e. Slavic) Russian would even recognize as being Russian because they are folks that hail from Central Asia, not Russia proper. And wrestling is hardly one of the Olympic glamour sports likely to inspire awe among world viewers. Moreover, 20% of Russia’s other gold medals came in such fraudulent non-sports as synchronized swimming (2) and rhythmic gymnastics (2). This left true “Russian” athletes with only 13 gold medals: boxing (2), flatwater canoe, women’s foil fencing, pentathalon (2), swimming marathon, women’s tennis and six in track and field — men’s high jump and race walk and women’s steeplechase, pole vault, race walk and 4 x 100 relay.
So Russia came away from Beijing with only four gold medals in significant profile events, women’s 4×100, tennis and pole vault and the men’s high jump. Not a single gold medal in a team sport! Russia finished the gold medal count only barely ahead of Britain, a nation one-third its size and hardly famous for its athletic prowess.
Russia lagged far behind the U.S.A. in both gold and total medals. The U.S.A. whipped Russia head-to-head in women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and the women’s 4×400 relay, denying it a gold medal each time. Russia didn’t defeat the U.S.A. with a gold medal on the line except in women’s foil fencing, a sport most people couldn’t care less about. The U.S.A. won nearly 60% more total medals than Russia, dominating the team sports and losing out to China in the gold medal count only because of the home country’s dominance in judged sports like diving and gymnastics. It won one-third more gold medals.
It was, in short, yet another humiliating sports disaster for Vladimir Putin’s Russia especially when comparing itself, as it is fond of doing, to the United States. But there’s more to Russia’s failure than just the medal count, much more.
First, as we previously reported, there was the cheating. Russia had actually lost the games before they even started, when a half-dozen of its best competitors were caught in a doping scandal and exluded from their events.
And then there was the pedestrian nature of Russian sport. The U.S.A. thrilled the world with bravura performances in men’s swimming and basketball, setting the record for most gold medals by a single athlete at a single games, while Russia did nothing of the kind, and fans new to Russian sport were left asking the question: Is Russia capable of producing a scintillating superstar athlete that can capture the world’s imagination the way American Michael Phelps did in the swimming pool, taking more gold medals in one games than any other athlete in any sport in history, or Usain Bolt did on the track, winning both the 100 and 200 sprints by wide margins and with world records in each, an unprecedented feat? When one compares them to Russia’s top gold medalists, like Yelena Dementieva, the contrast is appalling. When Dementieva started her gold medal tennis match, barely 10% of the seats were filled; the Chinese had to scurry to grab warm bodies and stuff them into the seats to prevent total humiliation. To put it bluntly, the world couldn’t care less about watching her play tennis, particuarly when her opponent was another unwatchable Russian player. Dementieva has no charisma and her game has no character, no firepower, nothing to dazzle or amaze. She wins only when better, more exciting players happen to fall by the wayside. And that is the story of her.
Speaking of host Communist China it, indeed, has a lot of egg on its face. It was caught red-handed using dubbed singing and virtual fireworks in the opening ceremonies, and it’s greatest singer was injured during practice by the unweildy stadium set the Chinese built. Now she’s paralyzed for life. China flubbed the playing of the U.S. national anthem for the games’ biggest star, Phelps, and its running track was ruined by rain. In one of the qualifying heats for the men’s 4×100 relay, one of the most glamourous events in the games, only four of the eight teams who started the race on the rain-soaked track finished and the Ameican team, always a star attraction in the finals, was one of them. China was even castigated for its surprising failure to provide the tacky souvenirs so coveted by Olympics fans, even though many of them are actually made in China. And then the bomb dropped: China was accused of using underaged gymnasts to compete in the women’s events, and the IOC finally launched a formal investigation.
Russia helped ruin China’s games as well, of course, and wiped out any vestigial glory to which it might have laid claim, by launching a military attack on Georgia that distracted the world’s attention in a big way and even giving rise to a formal movement to boycott the 2014 games now scheduled to be held in Sochi. Likely, China will not soon forget that egregious insult offered by Russia, and Russia can hardly be pleased to have its own future games under the threat of boycott while the Beijing contest had not even concluded. One must wonder if Russia’s so-called leaders considered that before they attacked Georgia in such a barbaric manner.
China won a lot of medals, but it should be noted that its tally was very much an illusion. The lion’s share of China’s medals came in judged events like gymnastics and diving. In straight athletic contests, China was far behind the U.S. in the overall medal count — giving rise to much speculation that China’s “home court advantage” might be influencing the judges to an improper extent. In gymnastics, for instance, a Chinese female vaulter crashed to her knees on her landing and yet still took home the gold medal, even though the silver medalist had stuck her landing.
La Russophobe 
That’s some mental gymnastics you are engaging here. Gold medal worthy. With just about half the US population, and only a fraction of the US GDP, Russia has more than half as many medals.
And why are you so racist that you would exclude people of Central Asian descent from the count?
Pretty silly.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
We exclude them from the medal count because Russians exclude them from citizenship. Did you read our recent post about the explosion of race violence in Moscow? Why don’t you ask one of these wrestlers how it feels to ride the Moscow metro (if they ever dare to) before you spout off your nonsense.
Population? You must be kidding you idiot. Great Britain has ONE THIRD Russia’s population yet nearly matched Russia’s gold medal tally. China has FOUR TIMES more people than the USA, but the USA won more total medals. The USA crushed Russia head to head in the relay, on the basketball court and on the volleyball court and all you can talk about is population size? You are babbling gibberish! Your lame neo-Soviet rationalization of failure is laughable in the extreme! What a pathetic spectacle you are! We could not be more delighted!
Are you suggesting that Russia needs to be viewed as a second-class citizen by the US because it has less than half the U.S. population? If so, we’d be prepared to take that thesis under consideration. Presumably the U.S. gets twice as many votes on the UN security council, right? You didn’t think for a single second before you spewed out your impulsive, knee-jerk nationalist garbage, did you?
Gosh, what an ape.
The US did not DOUBLE the Russian medal count. Learn to read before you spout stupidities.
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/GL/95A/GL0000000.shtml
Dimwit.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:Thanks for confirming with your breathless second comment that you didn’t spend any time at all thinking before spewing forth your nonsense. You’re quite right that the U.S. didn’t quite double Russia’s gold medal tally (it was 36-23) so we’ve updated our post accordingly. The U.S. “only” won 63% more gold medals than Russia, not 100%. Does that make you feel better, you slack-jawed buffoon? What exactly is it that you think you establish by splitting these hairs? Do you really believe, as your Soviet ancestors did, that if you find a misspelled word in our text it “proves” the whole thing is false? That kind of “thinking” brought the USSR to its knees — do you really want Russia to follow in those footsteps? If so, why do you hate Russia so much?
The US dominated Russia at the Olympics in every way. It produced superstar athletes who thrilled the world, Russia produced none. It won many team sport gold medals. Russia won none. It beat the entire world in the total medal count. Meanwhile, Russia’s gold medals came in a groups of events that nobody cares about, many of which aren’t even real sports, and many were won by people Russians treat like garbage when they meet them on the street. You simply cannot handle the reality, so you try to hide from it by nitpicking ridiculous points that only show how utterly desperate and craven you really are.
So… the medal winners of Central Asian descent don’t have Russian citizenship? Do you have proof for that? Probably not. So, your statement that Russians exclude them from citizenship is probably just another lie.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS: You illiterate monkey, we didn’t say they don’t have citizenship papers, WE SAID THE PEOPLE OF RUSSIA, AND ESPECIALLY MOSCOW, TREAT THEM AS IF THEY DON’T. So we don’t think Russia is entitled to count their medals as “Russian.” It’s clear you didn’t even try to look at our prior post about the wrestlers before commenting on it, proving that you are utterly incapable of a good-faith discussion.
Learn to read, you baboon.
You wrote: We exclude them from the medal count because Russians exclude them from citizenship.
Furthermore, most Russians I deal with are perfectly fine with considering people with non-Slavic last names as Russians. Meladze to Russians is a great Russian artist, who also happens to be of Georgian origins.
But, good to know that you think some mindless racist punks are the ones you should take your cues from. At the same time, this is about as intellecutally sound as believing that Americans don’t consider Blacks to be proper Americans just because the KKK does not.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
You are one sick demented freak. Do you really think that by perversely twisting our words out of context you can “win” some type of victory? You “think” just like the Soviets did. And look where that go them. You simply can’t control your blind, frenzied desperation to find some kind of fault in our post, any kind, and you flail around in the darkness like a madman, destroying the entire room to kill a fly.
We’ve made it perfectly clear, in the text of this post and in our prior post about the wrestlers, what we mean by denying citizenship. The fact that you can’t read the content of our posts and comment on them in good faith simply disqualifies you from being taken seriously.
Mindless racist punks? When was the last time Vladimir Putin or Dmitry Medvedev made a speech about racism? How many dark skinned people sit in the Moscow city council or in the Duma? What organized groups assist dark-skinned people who face violence and discrimination? What laws and lawyers protect them? Where are the dark-skinned pop stars? Movie stars? You speak to us as if you think we are naive fools who have no knowledge of Russia, people you can bamboozle with ridiculous lies. You’re making a total fool of yourself in so doing.
What you’re saying is that YOU NEVER TALK TO DARK PEOPLE about their life in Russia. All you know is WHAT WHAT WHITE SLAVIC RUSSIANS tell you. You care nothing for facts showing racial discrimination and violence, you rely solely on your personal anecdotes — but if anyone did that to attack Russia, you’d crucify them. Do you read the classified ads that openly say “no darkies wanted”? Do you observe many biracial Russian couples walking the streets? Can you point to a single reported case where white Russians attacked dark-skinned people and other white Russians came to their aid?
Your attempt to claim that Russia doesn’t have a massive race problem is totally insane, utterly detached from reality in a fully neo-Soviet way. You would be hysterically comical in your desperate flailing to blindly defend Russia by any ridiculous means if it were not so tragically sad in the context of Russian self-destruction.
The fact remains: Russia is third in total medal count, and third in total gold medal count. That’s what counts – you probably don’t notice that no serious sports commentator shares your opinions on Russian olympic performance. As always, Russia is among the top three performing nations at the Summer Games.
That you can’t handle that is simply a testament to your insanity.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
The fact remains that you are proud of a bronze medal and a brutal ass-whipping by the USA. Most people who really believe in their countries would want gold, and would try to reform to get it. But you know Russia can’t reform, so you prefer lies and subterfuge. Russia got table scraps at Beijing, and you want the people of Russia to be happy with that.
Is your opinion of them really so low? Then you are the true Russophobe.
The fact remains that the main point of this post was to show how ridiculous Russia’s pride in the European basketball and soccer performance really was. In all your breathless comments, you don’t say a single word about that, because you can’t handle that reality. So like a silly little child, you try to change the subject.
There’s a joke that shows how pathetic you are. In Soviet Russia, an man complained to a Russian hotel clerk about the poor quality of his accommodations. The clerk replied: “Yes, but you lynch blacks.” That’s the way the Soviets handled criticism — denial. No reform. Continued failure. And ultimately, collapse. You are helping Russia along exactly the same road.
Being third-best is not exactly failure, my dear rabid little blogger. Of course there is racism in Russia, but there are plenty of Central Asians who do well in Russia and are recognized as being legitimate members of Russian society. Such as olmypic gold medal winners, Georgian musicians and artists of various kinds, and other minorities. There are even black musicians and actors. You could watch the movie Zhara, for example, for a well-known Russian black rapper and actor who has a positive role even (and the movie pokes fun of racists to boot). Of course, reality does not matter to your silly mind.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
If we, the bloggers, are silly — then what does that make you, who only comment on our blog? Double silly? Triple? You’re one of the most ignorant and empty-headed morons who’s ever commented on this blog, and believe us that’s saying something. You simply don’t think at all before you write. It’s embarrassing. We pity you.
Why must you try to change the subject, as if you were 2 years old? Third place is failure if you compare yourself to the USA, which Russia does. Are you accepting second-class status for Russia compared to the USA? If not, then shut up you ape.
And as our post brilliantly shows, Russia’s third place is largely an illusion. You can’t defend Russia’s achievement at the level of detail, can’t even try.
Are you even vaguely aware of the POGROM carried out recently against Georgians, including rounding up Georgian kids by their last names? The question is whether the average white Russian treats the a dark-skinned person like a full-blooded citizen or not, and you know that they don’t. Therefore, Russians cannot take credit for their achievements.
If Russians are so terrible to these non-Slavic athletes, why do they compete for Russia?
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
You are a profoundly ignorant clod. You might also ask why Ukrainians competed for the USSR. Because they had no other choice. And given a choice, they immediately chose freedom, as did Georgians and Belarussians. You speak like a classic slavemaster, oblivious of the needs and desires of those he enslaves.
Suppose a dark-skinned resident of Chechnya would like to compete for Chechnya, not Russia. Is he or she free to do so? Of course not. Russia will not allow it! And it is the same for all the other enslaved people of the nation.
Meanwhile, as is so typical for you, you fail to ask the important question: Why don’t Russians treat these non-Slavs like full-blooded citizens when the ride the metro or need police protection? You speak up to defend Slavs, but when was the last time you spoke TO Slavs in defense of non-Slavs?
Your words are utterly empty, neo-Soviet in character and pathetic, the indica of a failed society that is quite literally going extinct. You don’t acknowledge anything at all went wrong for Russia at the Olympics, just as the USSR always refused to do about everything.
So, so lame.
Nobody is FORCING them to compete, are they? They could simply not go to the Olympics – or compete for another country.
As it stands, Russia has the third-highest medal count, lower only than the USA and China.
By your logic, Germany was humiliated at the Olympics, not to mention France, or Australia.
And, last but not least, NOBODY shares your take on it. You are utterly and completely ALONE in your ‘assessment’.
Which simply proves that you are mad.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
If we, the bloggers, are mad then what does that make YOU, who merely (and repeatedly) comment on our blog? Double mad? Triple mad? You really shouldn’t be so emotional and childish. Think about it little boy: When you attack us as “mad” you attack yourself. Is that really so hard for you to understand?
They are ATHLETES, you doofus. It is their whole life. Can the Chechens compete for Chechnya? It seems not. Most people (except for Russians like Maria Sharapova) want to actually live in the country they compete for. Sorry if that’s hard for your tiny little brain to comprehend.
Nobody? Can you find one single example of anyone (outside Russia) praising Russia’s performance at the games? You sure don’t link to any. Your own remarks are utterly devoid of any attempt to defend Russia’s performance at the level of detail. It’s really hard to think of a lie that would cover up Russia’s humiliation on the basketball court, isn’t it? We’ve shown how Russia was ousted from a medal in virutally every major event, being relegated to medals in pseudo-sports like synchronized swimming. You simply ignore all those facts in a shamefully dishonest neo-Soviet manner. NOBODY shares Russia’s view that Ossetia and Georgia should have been invaded, the whole world has condemned Russian aggression. So that means you agree Russia was wrong, right?
You don’t think AT ALL before you write your emotional nonsense. Again, you embarass yourself and us with your empty-headed drivel.
Are you on heroin? You just said a few comments ago that countries with large populations like the US can’t be compared to those with smaller populations like Russia. Are you now admitting you were wrong to say that? If so, please have the courage to actually do so. Your inconsistency is the mark of a very disturbed person, a rabid nationalist howling at the moon.
In case you haven’t noticed, you illiterate baboon, this blog isn’t about Germany, Australia or France. It’s about Russia. Are you really so unable to defend Russia’s performance on its merits that you have to change the subject, just as they always did in the USSR? Can’t you see that tactic has utterly failed? Last time we checked, Australia wasn’t a bastion of anti-American hatred that was trying to vie with the U.S. as a superpower, was it? Have the Germans or the French been strutting around arrogantly proclaiming they are an athletic match for the U.S.?
You seem content to have Russia be a third-class citizen, taking table scraps while China and America lead the world. We have more respect for Russia than that, sorry if you don’t.
And, of course, you fail to answer the simple question we asked you. So we repeat it: Why do Russians try to take credit for dark-skinned Olympic medals when they won’t treat dark-skinned people like citizens in the metro or police station?
Here’s another: You seem to enjoy writing comments on blogs. Have you ever written a comment on a blog critizing racism in Russia? If so, please post the link.
LR. Russia was 3rd in hte medal count and that’s it. No denying there.
I actually ride Moscow metro everyday and i would say that around 20% of all passangers are these so called “dark skinned” people. So when you suggest to someone to go ride Moscow metro to see how many of chernys are there, they will see it with their own eyes.
About 70% of gypsy cabbies are “dark skinned”. Did you know this?
In my company manager is “dark skinned” and so on.
P.s why you talk like a kid? Swear and insult other people?
good day.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
Why you talk only about us insulting others and ignore the fact that they started insulting us? Why you think nobody notice you don’t like insults aimed at those YOU AGREE WITH? Are you really that blind that you think nobody else can see? Why you think you can tell us how to run our blog? Totalitarian? Don’t like it, read another blog, you buffoon.
Why you lie so much? This post clearly states Russia’s medal position, a DISTANT third, FAR behind China and the US, FAR below expectations, with a gold medal count rivaled by many other nations; the point of this post, if you actually read it, which you clearly didn’t, was that Russia did HORRIBLE in soccer and basketball, when only a few months ago it claimed glory. Why you ignore the point of the post and try to change the subject?
Your anecdotal fairytale rubbish about racism with no source material whatsoever is laughably stupid. You babble like an imbecile. By the way, care to give us the e-mail for your company manager so we can verify your claim?
Please stop lying, you make Russia look like a banana republic with only the likes of you to defend her.
Dolt.
Since when are you the arbiter of what is a ‘real sport’ and what is not? As far as I am concerned, all sports at the Olympics have equal standing. The all take great skill and lots of training. Arguably, running is the easiest in terms of skills, while the sports you so disparage (simply because Russia is good at them) require much skill.
Again, please point me to anybody who claims that Russia has had a dismal Olympic performance. There is NOBODY.
By YOUR standards, the fact nobody agrees with you proves you wrong (not by mine).
By YOUR standards, the fact that the UK has less medals than Russia is a humiliating defeat for the UK.
But, by YOUR standards, your blog is brilliant, too.
Which simply shows what YOUR standards are worth.
And, no, I have never commented on Russian racism. I leave that to brilliant bloggers like yourself.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
Hmmmm. . . so let’s recap. You have ZERO sources supporting your view that Russia did well, but this is IRRELEVANT. You claim that nobody supports our view, and THIS is determinative. You see no hypocrisy or inconsistency in that position at all.
And you’ve NEVER spoken out against any form of racism in Russia, but that doesn’t matter and you can still speak objectively about the subject TOTALLY IN RUSSIA’S FAVOR.
Ummm ……. hmmmmmmm…….
You contribute nothing of value to this blog, only your own personal drivel which is of interest to nobody. No source material of any kind, yet you claim it’s important to find out who else agrees. Totally one-sided pro-Russia, yet you complain about us being biased.
You’re a brainless idiot and a flaming hypocrite. Totally pathetic.
This blog, by the way, is one of the most highly trafficked Russia blogs in the world. It’s been cited by the Washington Post, the Associated Press, the Moscow Times and the New York Review of Books. How’s that for some support, you ignoramus? We’ve received over 10,000 comments and half a million page views. Your stupid, ignorant, hallucinogenic statements betray your hysterically funny neo-Soviet “worldview” perfectly. You claim this blog is bad, yet spend half your life commenting on it. You live in a total dream world, a classic neo-Soviet man.
Care to link us to YOUR superior blog, big mouth? No? Thought not. Case closed.
P.S.: You’d like to have us arrested, wouldn’t you?
And what would you do with that e-mail? Send an e-mail to him and ask “sir are you dark skinned?”
:)
And why did YOU ignore that FACT, that so many dark skinned use metro and are cab drivers?
I don’t like any insults towards ANYBODY. But i am curious that why you use constantly words like “Bafoon, moron, idiot etc.” ?
I DONT use them towards you or anybody else.
By the way when did u live in Russia and where and for what reason? Just out of curiosity.
And so what if Russia didnt made so good in soccer or basketball. I don’t care about sports in the first place.
And one more question. What do you mean when you say that the American girl playing in Russian basketball team has a “sham citizenship”?
good day
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS: Your words are not credible. You say you don’t like insults, but you only criticize US for using them, and we didn’t start it. You don’t criticize those whose viewpoint you agree with. That’s just stupid, and prevents us from taking you seriously.
We’d check to verify your claim, and then we’d ask him for his views on Russian racism. But you won’t allow your claim to be verifed, just as we thought. So, we write you off.
Just to add one thing, the same party that supports the USSR is the same party that made the KKK.
I’m sure there is more, but I’ll have to scroll back up.
That is just one misconception that I wanted to dispatch.
I can allready see a long night because of this.
If the United States were to count it’s proxy medals, Russia would not have a chance.
It’s similar the Korean war. The american public did not recognize that we were really fighting russia, but present company understands that Russia is both the aggressor, and the loser.
At the very least, South Korea is better off.
Attempting to be a first world country, and placing behind a third world country really isn’t something to brag about.
Something that I really haven’t seen In any media outlet, is how China won gold in most of the events that are based on a points (1-10) system. Excusing the females that were underage, how does that happen.
Since China was willing to spend billions in preparations, how much went to the judges.
By the way, General Khlynov, who calls themselve a general, other than on a humor site.
You wouldn’t be trying to intimidate anyone would you. Of course not, then it would look like you are depriving sombody their human rights to speak freely, and openly.
If only the world could see the the human rights crisis that you are creating!
I’ll keep it handy.
LR, I just thought you might like to know, the Washington Post, the Associated Press are usefull idiots, in the worst possible way.
They are not friends.
Just to elaborate LR, american media has been infiltrated, and controlled by leftists.
It’s a good thing that nobody really listens to them anyway.
The stupidest ones are grade school teachers, and the smartest ones are hollywood actors.
That explains why socialism has never really had a foothold. That and the repeated failure of europe trying to incorporate socialism with capitalism.
The reason europe is considered the great experiment, is because they still have yet to make socialism work to the advantage of the “people.” Which is why it’s considered an experiment.
This is my response to the editorial titled “Annals of Russia Sports Humiliation”.
I´d like to start with a fast reality check here: the former USSR and the USA did compete against each other in 9 summer Olympics [deducting the 80 and 84 mutual boycotts].
Even for Barcelona 92, the former USSR now deceased, playing as the Unified Team surpassed the USA in total medals, being # 1 in the medal table [even more impressive considering the political and financial turmoil in Russia and the other republics during those days].
Why do i mention the USSR here? Simple: it was the USSR that created the extremely powerful sports system that made it a sports superpower, and that´s still being felt in Russia and many of the former soviet republics.
The results could not be more overwhelming: the USSR surpassed the USA in total medals in 7 out of those 9 summer games when they faced each other. Repeat 7 out of 9. [Plus the addition of Barcelona 92, the Unified Team case, that should make it 10 summer games: 8 won by the soviet sports system].
Oh, and what about the Winter Olympics? Results here were even more crushing if you compare the performance of the USSR vs the USA´s; they faced each other for 10 Winter Games. Results? 9 out 10 for the Soviets in most total medals.
9 winter games, plus one addition: the Unified Team playing for the Albertville Winter Olympics in 1992 crushed the U.S.A.: 23 medals vs 11 medals.
Need some more? Check the Universiades records, there too the USSR teams steam rolled over the U.S.A.
I am sorry to tell this to the writer of this editorial, but your words are loaded with bias and, why not, a radical loath for Russians.
You make fun and ridicule the Russians with names that are not “Slavic” that come from the Asian parts of the present-day Russian Federation. Man, that was way too much!
You said, quote: “And wrestingly is hardly one of the Olympic glamour sports likely to inspire awe among world viewers”.
Impressive remark there. So that means those gold medals do not count right? That´s a pretty weird conclusion. A gold medal won in a sport that “hardly inspires awe among world viewers” by an athlete that “does not have a Slavic name”, does not count. Weird, man, weird.
The comments is so terribly weak and biased i could tell something somewhat similar to the U.S.A. What about gold medals, or any other medals won by U.S.A. athletes of Black race?
Black people were still struggling for civil rights in the U.S.A. in the 1960s man. Do their gold medals count?
Also i could tell you that you should thank God, destiny, or whatever you might believe in, there are no black people in Russia man. If they had black people in their nation, then the medal tables would look even more radical in favor of the USSR or today´s Russia. Remember when FloJo and her team where surpassed and defeated in Seoul 88 by the Soviet girls?
When i first read the title of your editorial, my initial thought was “I agree there”, for in the end, it was clear the Beijing games were a significant setback for the Russian team.
But after passing the title and getting into your comments i had to revamp my thinking because your assertions are weak and radical.
I agree Russia did not perform well in Beijing, especially in Gymnastics, where they achieved almost nothing, considering the brutally powerful unmatched gymnastics school of the former USSR and today´s Russia.
But keep your feet on the ground, although they did not perform well, we are criticizing competitors that are at the top of the food chain in world sports.
After the break up of the USSR, from Atlanta 96 to Beijing 2008 [Barcelona 92 had the Unified Team as commented and they were # 1 there], Russia always remains in the first 3 positions in the medal table, never below that.
Whether you like it or not [which is clear you dont like it] Russia is still a sports world power, and be prepared you are not the only one aware Beijing was not a good performance. The Russians know it, and they are working on it. Wait for the 2012 summer games and see.
One final quote: “Is Russia capable of producing a scintillating superstar athlete that can capture the world’s imagination the way American Michael Phelps did in the swimming pool, taking more gold medals in one games than any other athlete in any sport in history, or Usain Bolt did on the track, winning both the 100 and 200 sprints by wide margins and with world records in each, an unprecedented feat?”
Yes they can. Either your bias and/or potential hate against Russians has made you a blind person, or you did not watch the games.
The answer is: Elena Isinbayeva. [By the way her closest competitor was an American; check the details of the vault competition in Beijing: Yelena left her way behind coughing in a cloud of dust].
Now Sport Billy, in all of those olympic games Russia/the USSR was greatly assisted by its massive use of performance enhancing steroids, as was east Germany.
In reality any “victory” in the medal table by communist countries was probably the result of drugs cheats.
And the Soviet and east German athletes who were also victims of thei drug program continue to suffer the side effects to this day.
Then there are the other metheods of cheating used by the USSR…
“Sydney: When the modern pentathlon hits the front pages, it is often for the wrong reasons.
The sport, being contested over the last weekend of the Sydney Olympics, comprises swimming, shooting, equestrian, cross-country running and fencing.
In 1976, Soviet army major Borys Onyshchenko made world headlines at the Montreal Games after being caught with a fencing sword adapted with a secret button which tricked the electronic scoring system into awarding him extra points.
“Dis-Onyshchenko”, as he became known, returned home and never competed abroad again.
And one burning question remained — had he used the same sword when winning the individual silver and team gold in Munich in 1972?”
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
Volume 46, Number 3, Summer 2003
E-ISSN: 1529-8795 Print ISSN: 0031-5982
DOI: 10.1353/pbm.2003.0035
Kalinski, Michael I., 1943-
State-Sponsored Research on Creatine Supplements and Blood Doping in Elite Soviet Sport
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine – Volume 46, Number 3, Summer 2003, pp. 445-451
The Johns Hopkins University Press
The former Soviet Union began participating in international sport after World War II and soon achieved a dominant position in the Olympic Games and other competitions. The success of Soviet athletic programs led to charges of unfair practices but, because of secrecy surrounding Soviet research in exercise biochemistry, it has been difficult to substantiate these charges. This article presents previously restricted information regarding the development and use of creatine supplements and blood doping in the USSR. Early work by Olexander Palladin established the role of creatine in muscle function. In the 1970s, Soviet scientists showed that oral creatine supplements improved athletic performance in short, intense activities such as sprints. Subsequent studies in the West substantiated these investigations and have led to the widespread acceptance and use of creatine supplements to enhance muscle function and athletic performance. In addition, however, the Soviet government supported the development of blood doping, which is banned by the International Olympic Committee. Blood doping was pervasive in the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s, and was used by many Soviet athletes in the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games. Open publication and discussion may help to prevent the abuses that can come from secret scientific research.
Pity you can’t afford to house orphans, or repair infrastructure, or pay pensions……
Ande pf course I expect Arthur to start harping on about US/Western athletes that use steroids too, however these cheats are acting as individuals, whereas in Russia the system of drug cheats in sport was (and probably still is) state sponsored.
Like the vast majority of the anti-Russian material you have on this site, you are out of line here, out of line all the way from A to Z.
So you are basically saying here that drugs will give you the talent, discipline, commitment, dedication, skill, and -more importantly- the TECHNIQUE to be a gymnast like Nikolai Andrianov, Valery Liukin, Dimitry Bilozerchev, Valentin Mogilny, Olga Korbut, Natalia Shaposhnikova, Elena Mukhina, Yelena Shushunova, Nellie Kim, Svetlana Khorkina, Natalia Yurchenko, Oksana Omelianchik, Ludmila Tourisheva….[hmm if i had to name the whole list of Soviet gymnasts that ruled their competitions -both olympic and world championships- the list would be bigger than the whole list of U.S. olympic medalists]
Sorry Sir but you live in a land of fantasy.
I think we will agree on something though: there are 2 Olympic “deparments” that capture the attention of the entire world like no other olympic disciplines: Athletics and gymnastics.
Yes, that thing you said in the opening editorial here, when you talked about, quote, “sports likely to inspire awe among world viewers”, trying to make your case of those medals won by Russian athletes in “boring” olympic disciplines during the Beijing games. So for one moment i will play your game.
If we talk about athletics [where most U.S. medals are won by black athletes] the U.S.A. and the USSR could give the world memorable episodes in the summer games. With this i mean that in the athletics department the U.S.A. could not claim complete dominance over the Soviets. Again, see the 4 X 400 final in Seoul 88, where Florence Griffith Joyner got left behind in a cloud of dust by Olga Bryzgina.
Now, please bring forward the gymnastics department…here the U.S.A. stood no chance whatsoever against the USSR; not in the wildest of the dreams; not in any shape, form, or conceivable thought.
The USSR was sweeping the table in gymnastics since 1952, including ALL the world championships, while the USA was still trying to figure out what serious gymnastics was all about.
It was not until L.A. ´84 when America showed some progress in gymnastics with brilliant athletes like Mary Lou Retton, but well, the Soviet girls did not attend, saving Mary Lou the hardships of facing some names…Yelena Shushunova, Maria Mostepanova, and Natalia Yurchenko…do your research and learn who these Soviet girls were back then…ummm
But things returned to their normal condition for Seoul 88. The U.S.A. was virtually nothing in the gymnastics medal table, where your Soviet nightmare simply took care of being what it was: a steam roller.
Even as late is in Barcelona 92, where the U.S. showed again some progress, the results were crystal clear in gymnatics: 20 Unified Team medals vs. 6 American medals.
I do not have the truth regarding the case of drugs used to “cheat” in the Olympics. I know that best documented case though is the one of East Germany.
But assuming the Soviets did it, i am sure the U.S. did it as well. I mean, if the Soviets did it, there is no bloody reason whatsoever to not think the U.S. would do the same thing. But hey, do not forget this, drugs or any other sort of cheating using substances CAN NOT and WILL NOT give you skill and technique. Learn this simple issue.
After all the world was divided into those 2 big blocks, and the filthy politicians of both nations knew that they lacked the balls to go into a nuclear war…so, where could those sissies find the perfect battle field to show the world what regime/system was better? Easy answer: the Olympics.
So everything was valid to surpass your enemy in sports, and in doing that, the Soviets were much better than the U.S.A.
And also you might find this interesting: now the U.S. gymnastics team can reach the finals in the Olympics…guess why such a thing became possible? Simple answer again: the large number of either Eastern bloc or Soviet coaches that immigrated to the U.S.A.
So…in a way, American gymnastics is now enjoying the sweet fruits of a system you loath and despise so much. Ask Nastya Liukin, one of the most prominent American gymnasts, born in Moscow, USSR 1989, daughter of one of the greatest gymnasts of all time: Valery Liuikin.
Cheers.
I give this article a A+. I also loved reading your reponse to General Khlynov. Russia can’t handle the truth not even if Jesus told them himself.
Cherry,
Then you will also enjoy the equally sour-grapes comments about the 1908 Olympics. Can you scroll that far?
I like how when Plushenko complains about bad judging – it’s called “sour grapes”. But when baseless accusations are heaped at judges for “favoring” the Chinese – it’s LR at her best.
http://premiumswissaesthetics.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/cosmetic-surgery-its-also-a-mans-world/