What a shame!

“The best Olympics in history,” as the president of the International Olympic Committee said, are over, but the Olympic scandals are not going to settle down in the nearest future.

As a representative of the Norwegian National Olympic Committee said at a press conference in Salt Lake City, there are a few other drug cases pending. It was not specified though who is suspected of the use of the banned drugs.

The final ceremony of the Games took place without Russian skiers Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova and Spanish skier Johan Muehlegg. These athletes were accused of the drug use on the very last day of the games.

Spain does not conceal its disappointment with Muehlegg: King of Spain Juan Carlos delayed the reception in honor of the Olympic athlete, and the Spanish press publish articles under headlines like “There Is No Excuse for Muehlegg,” “The Great Disappointment,” ect.

The newspaper Mundo conducted an opinion poll devoted to the following question: “Do you agree with the sanctions of the International Olympic Committee against Muehlegg?” More than a half of the respondents said that the punishment was not strict enough.

Speaking about the disqualification of the Russian skiers, the Olympic Committee of Russia submitted another protest. The Canadian skier Beccy Scott was inspired by the award of the second gold medals to the Canadian figure skaters as well as by the latest decision of the International Olympic Committee (against Lazutina and Danilova) and claimed that she was going to strive for a gold medal to be awarded to her. This was reported by the newspaper the Ottawa Citizen.

Scott took third place in the ski event, and only Lazutina and Danilova were ahead of her. However, their hemoglobin was ok at that time, and the International Olympic Committee disqualified only the results of the 30 kilometer race.

As representative of the Russian company Bosco Sport Vladimir Soloviev (who recently returned from the Olympics) said in an interview to a Russian radio station, “all athletes use chemical substances, and everybody knows it.” However, not all of those chemical substances are allowed to be used. The negligence of those in charge of the medicine is very surprising, and the members of the Russian delegation did not observe the line between what is banned and what is allowed to be used.

Soloviev said that the sports officials treated the Russian athletes very badly. This can not be said about the Russian sports journalists, who took on the function of Russian Olympic Committee representatives. The correspondents talked to the athletes after the competitions, and they were helped them with their activities, organizing press-conferences and so on.

“What a shame!” – an NTV Plus sports commentator exclaimed after it became known about the disqualification of the leading Russian athletes. Indeed, such a scandal can destroy years of hard work, and all achievements become zero in a second.

What a shame! This is the major result of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake. The Russian officials and fans are waiting for the Russian Olympic team at the Moscow Sheremetyevo-2 airport. They will meet the team very warmly, and the athletes do need the support.

Sergey Stefanov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov