Silence is golden!

At that time, when Russian sports was led by Leonid Tyagachev, who held the post of head of the NOC, I, and not only me, was struck by his, let’s say, taciturnity. Leonid Vasilyevich was concise, loved interjections, and it was sometimes quite difficult to understand him. His heartfelt speeches during the doping scandals are especially memorable, after which there remained great doubts that a person who expressed his thoughts in this way was capable of defending the interests of Russia in international organizations.

The relevant minister now responsible for our sport, Vitaly Mutko, on the contrary, loves to talk, and sometimes even say something out of the ordinary in a foreign language. For the time being, the eloquence of the Minister of Sports did not cause a special outburst of emotions: a person conveys his thoughts to the public - and that’s great! But during the Olympic Games in London I remembered the silent Tyagachev - it was not for nothing that he, perhaps, preferred interjections!

What Vitaly Leonidovich hasn’t said in just over two weeks! It’s not worth mentioning that he constantly called on everyone to express “more optimism, positivity” about the not very pleasing results of his work. That's why he's a leader, to praise his swamp. But it’s surprising that after the disastrous first week, Mutko had no idea (I quote) why “people are spraying negativity” and “where does so much anger towards their own come from.” By his own, obviously, he meant himself, because if anyone wanted to “pinch, bite harder,” it certainly wasn’t the athletes.

However, by the end of the Olympics, Mutko himself began to look for “someone to pinch, to bite more painfully,” just to shift everything from his sore head to... another. Both the judges and the rules of the competition got it, which he would “change, because when people lift the same weight, and the one with 150 grams less weight is declared the champion, this is unfair,” and, of course, “especially emotional comrades,” who “are losing their nerves because it is still difficult for us to compete on equal terms with the leaders in swimming, cycling, rowing, and shooting.”

In the end, even entire sports with which Mutko was “disappointed” received their due - weightlifting and boxing. Let me remind you, by the way, that in the spring the minister was also “disappointed” with biathlon and bobsleigh. I don’t know why boxing or, say, biathlon previously fascinated the minister, but it seems that there are also many sports that have become disillusioned with Mutko, thanks to whose efforts we now have “any medal worth its weight in gold.” True, according to the minister, “a professional conversation should take place without prying eyes, stay inside.” Mutko decisively stated: “If any of the leaders of the federations has a question, you should not contact the newspaper, but contact me directly!” Judging by the last phrase, the Minister of Sports sees himself practically as a president... Fursenko was also a president...