Olympics: Medvedev Mad at Medals Total

The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev is not a happy man if his recent comment are to be believed. Russia's disappointing medals tally at the Vancouver games has been a source of much anger at home, and he has been quick to demand changes. He will of course, have to be careful how he treads and who he criticises, given the role that Vladimir Putin played in setting up the funding for the Olympic programme, but, with the Russians now on the clock as the next hosts of the Winter Olympics, the pressure will be on to ensure that they can produce results to match those of Canada, whose slow start in Vancouver was forgotten by the end of the games, as they topped the medals table and won the all important final gold medal in the men's ice hockey.


Medvedev has made his dissatisfaction with the Russian Olympic team clear

From a neutral point of view, it always seems to make for a better games when the host nation does well, which they often do, as it lifts the home crowds and builds the atmosphere. Four years is a long time in sport though, and Britain's turnaround from an embarrassing show at the 1996 Atlanta games to a successful Sydney Olympics, shows that it can be done. If the Russians fail however, there will be some uncomfortable questions for the sportsmen and women, and the administrators from the very highest levels of power, that much is now clear.