RUSSIANS ARE DONE WITH THE WINTER GAMES

[johnmathew_3000]

YAHOO SPORTS NEWS


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Angered by a string of decisions against its athletes, Russia threatened Thursday to pull out of the Winter Olympics (news - web sites) and might not compete in the Athens Games if its concerns are not addressed.

Russian Olympic Committee president Leonid Tyagachev said he told IOC (news - web sites) president Jacques Rogge that his nation was ``greatly unappreciated'' in the Olympics.

The comments came at a news conference just hours after one of the nation's top athletes, cross-country skier Larissa Lazutina, was disqualified from the 20-kilometer relay because of high levels of hemoglobin found in a pre-race blood test.

``If decisions are not made and issues we raised not resolved, the Russian team will not play hockey, will not run 30 kilometers, will look very negatively on other factors,'' Tyagachev said.

He said there was a 24-hour window to address the situation, and that if Russia left Salt Lake City it probably would not compete in Athens in the next Summer Games.

``Once you leave, it is not easy to come back in,'' he said.

Later, Vitaly Smirnov, an IOC vice president from Russia, tempered Tyagachev's remarks, saying there was no ultimatum ``not 24 hours or 48 hours.''

However, he said the Russian team wanted Rogge to write a letter to Tyagachev ``and address our concerns.''

IOC officials were meeting to discuss the complaints, but did not immediately comment.

The Russian men's hockey team is scheduled to play the United States in the semifinals on Friday, and a 30-kilometer women's cross-country event is set for Sunday.

Tyagachev said that while Lazutina's hemoglobin count was just above the legal limit, she was not guilty of doping.

``We are clean,'' he said. ``We have nothing to hide.''

A urine test on Lazutina will determine whether her case will be considered a drug positive. Results were expected Friday; she was scheduled to compete in the 30-kilometer race.

Lazutina, who has already won two silvers at these games to increase her career medal total to nine, last raced on Feb. 15 in the 5-kilometer pursuit.

She was hoping for a record-tying 10th medal, but her disqualification knocked four-time defending champion Russia out of Thursday's relay event.

But Tyagachev was upset by more than the Lazutina case.

He made repeated references to the figure skating judging dispute, in which Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the pairs' competition but had to share the gold medal with Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

``This was a new decision that was practically unprecedented,'' he said. ``We went along with the decision and tried to look at it objectively. ... But we have only so much patience.''

Tyagachev also referred to what he said was a high number of Russian athletes picked for drug tests and an unspecified ruling by a goal judge in ice hockey.

``I think we are seeing a witch hunt,'' he said.

Smirnov warned against taking his country's complaints too lightly.

``Without Russia, the Olympic Games (news - web sites) will be lost,'' he said.

Tyagachev said he would meet with top officials of the International Ice Hockey Federation, the International Skating Union (news - web sites) and the international ski federation FIS to discuss his complaints.

``We defend our honor,'' he said.

He also said that if the same rules that led to duplicate golds in pairs skating were applied to the cross-country relay, Russia should share that gold with race winner Germany.

``I told Rogge that since the Canadian figure skaters were awarded a second gold medal, by the same logic our relay should get a gold, too, since it's been dominant for so long,'' he said. ``Or if this is not an 'objective' solution, why not stage a new relay on Saturday?''

The Ukrainian team also did not start event because Valentina Shevchenko failed a blood test. Ukrainian officials declined to comment.

Germany won the gold medal, Norway took the silver and Switzerland got the bronze.

The Russians planned to protest the race.

``This is a scandal. They are specifically hunting out Russian sportsmen,'' team leader Gennady Ramensky said.

[then3]

I wish we(the Russians) would stop whining about the results. We are acting like a bunch of poor sports. The american figure skater clearly won last night. What are our sports officially thinking when they state that our skater should have won? It wasn't even close. It makes us look like a bunch of cry babies. The whole world is laughing at us. We also need to stop are athletes from taking drugs. Cheating is not right.

We should follow the example of the american Appolo Ohno on Tuesday. When he was tackeled by the Korean and cheated out of the gold, he did not complain at all. He just said that is the nature of the sport.

[jutka]

Of course Ohno didn't complain! The Korean was disqualified right away, so the American won the gold.

Don't you think that the Russians are only doing what the Canadians and the American media did when the Russian pair won the gold? I don't know where you live, but here in Canada all you could hear all day is the whining!! "Our pair was robbed, our pair was robbed!!"
Maybe the Russians are just trying to make a point to show everybody else how stupid THEY looked when THEY complained.

[ILay]

then3

for a Russian living in the States your English seem to be a bit too bad.

sat sapienti

[Shpulka]

Originally posted by then3
IWe also need to stop are athletes from taking drugs. Cheating is not right.

When he was tackeled by the Korean and cheated out of the gold, he did not complain at all. He just said that is the nature of the sport.

It doesn't seem that you're Russian Ñëèøêîì óæ ðå÷è òâîè íåñâîéñòâåííû ðóññêîìó ìåíòàëèòåòó.

Do you know that haemoglobin in Russian blood is often higher than in blood of people from other countries? "That is the nature of Russians"

Perhaps, Americans have to learn a litte more about haemoglobin and its level in a blood

[Edited by Shpulka on 23rd February 2002 at 14:35]

[Shpulka]

Originally posted by then3
We also need to stop are athletes from taking drugs. Cheating is not right.

And haemoglobin in blood of our sportsmen was all right - 15.7, if I'm not mistaken.

"A normal haemoglobin level is in the range of 14—18 grams per decilitre (g/dL) of blood for men and 12—16 g/dL for women." (http://www.s4lk.co.uk/bgdisplay.jhtml?file=r_faq&s=3)

[vorosilov]

Sure,

than3 isn't Russian. He just says he is. He came here to defame the Russians.