The Russian national team has two new athletes who have made a great contribution to bring the team to the leading place in the medal rating.
Despite the fact that this Olympics became successful for the Russian team, there are also those who are not satisfied with the victories of foreign athletes playing for Russia. After all, thanks to the victories of athletes from Korea (Victor An) and the United States (Victor Wilde), the Russian team took first place in the medal rating.
The Russian national team is very lucky that such worthy athletes play for it. After all, these two athletes won 4 gold medals in individual competitions. Previously, Russian athletes almost never occupied high places in disciplines such as snowboarding and short track. However, with the introduction of naturalized athletes to the national team, these sports have become attractive to fans.
Vic Wilde became the only champion who was able to win two gold medals at once at the same Olympics. By the way, he is married to a Russian girl snowboarder, Alena Zavarzinna, who was also able to climb the podium, having received a well-deserved bronze medal. Now, parallel slalom has become a home for Russian fans.
As for Victor An, his fate was not easy. After receiving a knee injury, he was unable to make his way to the Korean national team. Therefore, he had to change citizenship and play for another country. He became a real hero for the Russian team, because our athletes had never received so many medals in short track before. Thanks to the Korean athlete, Russian skaters managed to win awards in team competitions.
You should not be very critical of the victories of naturalized champions, because Russian athletes often play for the national teams of other countries, but the fans are also happy for their successes in their achievements. Take, for example, Anastasia Kuzmina, who twice won the gold medal in the biathlon sprint of the Slovak national team; or Yuri Podladchikov, who played for the Swiss team and won gold in snowboarding.
