In a few days, the 30th Summer Olympic Games will open in the capital of Great Britain. Many athletes from all over the world will compete for awards in this prestigious competition. Among them will be the Russians.
The USSR national team, of which Russia became the legal successor, was considered the main favorite to win in the team Olympic standings. Of course, they achieved such a stunning result as at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, when our athletes won 80 gold medals, only in the absence of many serious competitors. But 50 gold medals in Munich, 49 gold medals in Montreal, especially 55 top awards in Seoul, spoke for themselves.
However, the collapse of the USSR and the ensuing period of chaos in the economic and political life of Russia did their job. If at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, athletes from 12 former republics of the Soviet Union, acting as a single team, by inertia were able to take first place, having won 45 gold medals, then after 4 years at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, the Russian team achieved only 26 medals of the highest standard … In the first place with a huge advantage (44 gold medals) was the US team.
Positive trends that began in the late 90s led to the fact that the Russians were more successful at the next Olympics. The 32 gold medals in Sydney (2000) seemed to inspire hope that Russia could now be a serious competitor to the United States. But then rapidly developing China came into play. Already at the Athens Olympics in 2004, the Chinese team confidently pushed Russia to the third overall team place, winning 32 gold medals (the Russians - only 27). And already at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, the Chinese generally became triumphant, having received 51 medals of the highest standard. The Americans came second with 36 gold medals, and the Russians came third with 23.
Alas, there is practically no chance that at the London Olympics our athletes will perform a miracle and become leaders again. The reality is that our limit is the 3rd team place. This is the result that Russian athletes are aiming at. The minimum task is to get 25 gold medals. The maximum task is 30.
