The London Olympic Games have reached the home stretch. And if the first half of the games did not please Russian sports fans, then in recent days the number of medals won by the Russian national team has increased dramatically. As of August 10, the Russians already had 56 Olympic awards, including 12 gold ones. And this, of course, is far from the limit.
Even before the start of the London Olympics, the leaders of the Russian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports warned that the competition schedule was drawn up in such a way that the greatest chances for medals would be in those sports that will be held in the second half of the games. Indeed, it happened so. In addition, there are still, for example, the finals of the competitions in group synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics, where the Russian team is a clear favorite.
However, it is already obvious that we will not get the third command place: the lead of the British team in the number of gold medals is too great! Therefore, all that our team can achieve is to keep the fourth place. The maximum program before the start of the Olympics - to win 25 gold medals - now can only be remembered with a sad smile. It will hardly be possible to reach the minimum program (20 medals of the highest standard).
Of course, a whole host of objective reasons can be found for this. Here is the rapidly growing power of the Chinese Olympians (and after all, until recently, no one took this team seriously). And the unconditional domination of black athletes, including those for the USA and Great Britain national teams, in many types of athletics, due to a mass of genetic, physiological and historical factors. Namely, athletics is the "richest" type of Olympic program in terms of medals! And the consequences of the crazy 90s, when the system of training high-level athletes was practically destroyed in Russia.
The fact remains: expectations were not met. And the performances at the London Olympics of traditionally strong Russian shooters, fencers and swimmers can hardly be called a failure. It is necessary to draw all the necessary conclusions from the situation that has arisen, proceeding to correct it.
