Surprising even itself, Russia tops Olympics medals table

SOCHI, Russia: Russia on Sunday finished the Sochi 2014 Olympics top of the medals table with 13 golds, a result few in the country would have dared predict ahead of the Games.
On a glorious final day for the hosts, Russia’s cross country skiers led by Alexander Legkov recorded a stunning clean sweep in the blue riband 50km mass start while Alexander Zubkov piloted Russia to gold in the four-man bobsleigh.
Its total of 13 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze represented an astonishing turnaround from the debacle of Vancouver 2010, where Russia took just three gold in a huge blow to its prestige as a sporting superpower.
Some cynics may point out that five of the Sochi gold medals came from two naturalized athletes — South Korean-born short track speed skater Victor Ahn and US-born snowboarder Vic Wild — who do not yet even speak fluent Russian.
But that will be of little concern to relieved Russian officials breathing a huge sigh of relief in the face of immense public and media pressure for success.
“It’s hard to plan medals,” said Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko. “We had worked out that according to the results of the (2013/2014) winter season we were fourth or fifth in the world.”
“But when you believe in people, everything works out.”
Russia’s success won praise Sunday from International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, who said the Russians were well aware that a result comparable to Vancouver would not do at a home Games.
“It is remarkable the progress they have made,” he said.
“The success of the home team is always an important part of the success of the Games overall,” he said, comparing the success of Russia with that of Team GB at the London Games.
Russia started the Games slowly, failing to win anything on the opening day of medal action, which started ringing immediate alarm bells.
And its success is all the more remarkable given the high-profile failure of some of its best-known stars.
Yevgeny Plushenko withdrew himself from the individual men’s figure skating due to a back injury, creating a scandal that was as much about show business as sport.
The men’s ice hockey team, packed with NHL stars, went out at the quarter-final stage, depriving Russia of the gold it wanted most.
The biathlon teams fell well short of expectations, until the men took gold in a dramatic team relay on Saturday.
But the country also gained a host of new sporting heroes such as gold medal-winning figure skater Adelina Sotnikova, 17, and Ahn, the undisputed king of short track, who was the most successful athlete of the Games.
In a congratulatory telegram to the 50 km cross country skiers, President Vladimir Putin described their victory as “one of the legends of the Sochi Games.”
Legkov won the 50km in 1hr 46min 55.2sec, a fraction of a second ahead of his teammates Maxim Vylegzhanin and Ilia Chernousov, who took silver and bronze.
The victory in the mass start marked the realization of the potential of Legkov, 30, for years seen as Russia’s greatest cross country skier but until now without an Olympic gold.
“Before the race I was shaking and worrying a lot,” said Legkov. “I had so many emotions but I could not express them.”
“Most of you wouldn’t believe Russia would win the medal table? Just like when Canada won in Vancouver,” he told reporters.
“I believed it.”
Zubkov, who carried Russia’s flag at the opening ceremony, claimed the four-man bobsleigh to go with his two-man victory earlier in the Games.
“I don’t have any emotions right now, honestly. I used them all up in the race,” he said.