PUTIN INSISTS RUSSIA NOT TO BOYCOTT OLYMPICS

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RUSSIANS CHANGED THEIR MINDS
By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) said Friday that North American athletes have a ``clear'' advantage at the Winter Olympics (news - web sites) in Salt Lake City, but indicated Russia will not boycott the rest of the games.

Russians have been outraged by several developments at the Olympics, including Thursday's disqualification of a star Russian skier from a cross-country relay following a blood test. Some Olympic officials threatened to leave the games unless their concerns are addressed.

But Putin suggested that would not happen.

``North American athletes receive a clear advantage,'' Putin told journalists at the Kremlin. ``Let us see how the Olympic Games (news - web sites) end. Let us hope that the IOC (news - web sites) leadership will manage to solve these difficulties.''

The lower house of Russia's parliament passed a resolution Friday calling on Russian athletes to boycott Sunday's closing ceremonies unless Olympic officials rerun the cross-country relay, bar North American referees from Friday's hockey match between Russia and the United States and apologize to the Russian Olympic team. The resolution was approved 417-0.

Other government officials suggested Russia withdraw from the games, possibly before the hockey semifinal.

``Russian athletes are practically being mocked today. It's an attempt to discredit Russian sports and oust Russian athletes from the sports arena,'' said Alexei Volin, deputy chief of staff of the Russian Cabinet.

The cross-country team had to drop out of the relay when doping control officials disqualified team member Larissa Lazutina for having high levels of hemoglobin. Russian officials denied the nine-time Olympic medalist had taken performing-enhancing drugs.

There have been other Olympic incidents that have been widely interpreted in Russia as part of a Cold War-style campaign.

In a high-profile dispute, Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the figure skating pairs competition but had to share the gold with Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier because of a judge's misconduct.

Russian Olympic officials have also complained of unfair refereeing during a hockey game.

``We believe that the attitude toward our team is not objective,'' Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said.

``We have appealed to the leadership of the International Olympic Committee to take the necessary measures to create a normal atmosphere for Russian athletes, the same as for the athletes of other countries,'' he said.

While Putin did not go into detail about the skiing or skating scandals, he protested the alleged ``excessive commercialization of the Olympic movement,'' U.S. media bias and the decision to use only referees from the National Hockey League at Olympic hockey matches.

``It's hard to imagine how the judging can be of good quality and objective, given the fact that NHL judges live and work in North America,'' he said.

Putin attributed the problems to the change in leadership of the IOC. Jacques Rogge of Belgium replaced Juan Antonio Samaranch as IOC chief last year. Samaranch is a former Spanish ambassador to the Soviet Union and he has warm feelings for Russia.

The skiing scandal and Russia's reaction dominated the air waves Friday. State-controlled ORT television, the country's most-watched station, devoted the first 13 minutes of its Friday morning broadcast to the story, even before reporting a Russian plane crash that killed 17.

Lazutina's disqualification ``was done according to the rules of military action: The main thing is to neutralize a strong rival,'' the station commented.

Russia endured another skating disappointment Thursday when 16-year-old American Sarah Hughes (news - web sites) swept past Irina Slutskaya (news - web sites), leaving the Russian with the silver.

Renowned Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov, serving as a television commentator in Salt Lake City, told ORT that this year's Olympics were ``a continuation of the Cold War.''

``Perhaps it is caused by fear among the American people after the horrible day of Sept. 11 or fear that we (Russians) now have hope of climbing out of the hole we have fallen into and could be dangerous, so they have to humiliate us,'' he said.