Lost bet

Ours in Vancouver: the main thing is participation

Lost bet. In Vancouver, Russia is still not competing with America and Germany, but with Estonia and Belarus, being outside the first dozen
At the end of the fifth day of the competition, Russia finally took the first gold, and at the same time the very first silver. The joy came from where they almost did not expect: they helped out the skiers, the sprinters, on which at best, were counted on at least some medals according to the results of individual races, male and female. But if women acted quite in a team-style style (according to the results of the first four days, the Russian team went on the 19th in the team standings, immediately after Estonia), then Nikita Kryukov and Alexander Panzhinsky immediately elevated the country to 11th place. And it was a holiday.

Lonely bronze

Before that, the skater Ivan Skobrev was obtained - one for all. Our also competed in biathlon and sledges, taking places from the fourth and further, in the rest of the species they participated more than fought for places on the pedestal. The first Olympic champion of Vancouver was supposed to decide on skiing, in a male high -speed descent. But after the death in the training of the Georgian Sanctor a few hours before the opening ceremony, the organizers began to show maximum caution, transferring starts in the mountains from day to day even because of the most thick fog. As a result, the mountain opened three days later, and the best of ours, Alexander Khoroshilov, after the finish found himself 45th. Stepan Zuev lagged behind another nine seats. In total, 60 people finished.
A short certificate: for the Olympic cycle, which lasted from Turin to Vancouver, 75,225 thousand rubles were allocated from the state budget to prepare the Russian national ski team. According to The New Times, a source at the Center for Sports Training (CSP), distributing these funds by federations, "all financial requests of skiers were completely satisfied with us." At the same time, mind you, the money was not given out that the group of physical cultures went to Canada to ride in the mountains, but as if for a successful performance in Vancouver. The next day, Elena Prosteva in a similar discipline reached the 32nd. It will be interesting to listen to how for these “successes” Leonid Tyagachev will be reported to the “party and government” in March: in the State Duma they instantly felt that the failure of the first Olympic days changed the attitude of the country's main ski named Vladimir Vladimirovich to his long -term coach. And if it goes on in Vancouver further, then the student will easily give the thirsty for his teacher, who has several hectares of the state land near Moscow, where he has been preparing “future Olympians” from the end of the last century. Now, apparently, already for Sochi.

Can't we get up from the knees at least in hockey? ..

"The task is not removed"

However, in some matters, Leonid Vasilievich deserves not even indulgence, but encouragement. After all, he could, using his official position, and a lot more money for preparation, request, ask, consult. And they would give him everything to a penny, would not have gone anywhere. But Tyagachev acted on conscience ... Do you know how much money was wasted from the treasury, for example, on the ski team? Authoritatively answer: 205 750 thousand rubles. Almost three times more than the potential success in the mountains was evaluated. For this amount, President of the Federation Vladimir Slavsky promised that one of the accounts accountable to him would be at least six. Moreover, he began to scare success three more years ago, and less than a month before Vancouver confirmed that "the task is not removed." And what do we have? In its purest form, the competition is not with rivals, but with our skiers. The leader of the biathlies Sergei Maslennikov following the results of jumping and skiing of 15 km managed to get ahead of Khoroshilov, although not much-he finished the distance of the 42nd. But the second participant, Niyaz, Nabeev, failed to surpass the result of Stepan Zuev-Lyu was not allowed to start due to the excess of the norm of hemoglobin in the blood. This is not a doping-do not be afraid, it’s like such a humane measure among international doctors: a person for five days is not recommended to strain due to the danger to his own health. And as soon as Nabeev was removed from the distance, it suddenly became clear that everyone who was supposed to knew perfectly well that the athlete was jumping under the loads of hemoglobin. What they hoped (despite the fact that Zabeev firmly followed Maslennikov’s second number and a place, it turned out, could dispute, starting from the second fifty) - it is not very clear. They dumped everything, of course, on the coach of Zhukov: he brought, set up, brigious-although he was just the first to warn everyone about the characteristics of the body of the student. And what, all these bosses are seriously, or something, they don’t understand who they look if they cannot find for so many years in the whole country of two really healthy men, who would have been jumping and running, and they would not really disgrace? Or before all this got away with it, because the team in the overall standings turned out to be at least the third or fourth? (Boris Gryzlov, by the way, at the end of the first Olympic week determined the border of failure at the games - this will, in his opinion, be any place below the fourth).

Not everyone decides money

It seemed to the optimists for some time that the day after the skiers, Plushenko would take their legitimate gold, and there it would go. But no, no matter how commentators came in a screech, arranging hysteria from a report (and this is not only figured skiing), our returning champion did not become a two -time Olympic. According to Plushchenko himself, because of the bias of the judges, since he mastered the four-year jump, and the first American Evan Laisaches, such an element “does not even know how to fulfill”. According to the judges-due to the fact that Plushenko did not fulfill one of the element indicated by him in the preliminary application-a simple double -borne jump, on which he lost a couple of points that cost him the first place. Even Plushenko, barely coming off the pedestal, said that the Americans or Canadians in such a situation would have terrified the jury with protests, and no one even thought to fight for him. In general, in preparation for the Olympiad, Eugene, it turns out, he himself paid for the work of the choreographer, bought costumes and what else was spent on, almost without receiving support from the federation.
But even when the money reaches the addressee, they decide, as it turns out, far from all, at least in the Russian version. Here in the biathlon, what kind of, it would seem that a pawn to Ferzi was made, having given more than a year ago the federation for management and financing Mikhail Prokhorov - and what's at the exit? Either the legs do not run, then the bullets do not fly - not a single medal in the first six races! This was not even in poor times, when cartridges had to be saved in training, and a queue was built to the only massage therapist. And now, at least fired and deceived, and premium medal hundreds of thousands of euros are calculated, only there was no one to pay them in the first week. Olympic medals are not bought - even enormous money. Although Tyagachev pretended to be dreamily: how who will become a two -time champion, so be the millionaire - money will flow with streams. From the state, from the federations, from the sponsors, they will not offend their heroes ... But where did our main Olympic of serial champions in his team see if the whole delegation was discouraged for one week for one week? And three hours after Plushenko was comforted with silver, hockey players also lost to the Slovaks! True, in the preliminary round and the shootouts, but immediately it became anxious for the star through our attack, which for three periods with an overtime, a modest opponent, is imported by one puck, and that ricochet. But Medvedev himself wanted to fly to the hockey finale on the closing day of the games. And to see at the same time how Vancouver will transfer the Olympic relay race to Sochi.
By the way, the owners of the Olympiad, Canadians, for the same week - three gold, seven medals in total and that very general fourth place, below which Terkachev and Mutko Kremlin were not ordered to fall.