Russian President Medvedev Demands Resignations After Low Olympic Medal Count

Moscow, Russian Federation (AHN) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev demanded Monday that the country’s sports officials resign following Russia’s disappointing performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

In a televised statement, Medvedev called on officials responsible for the Olympic preparations of the athletes to step down before the government takes action.

The Russian president did not mention any names in particular.

It was an anticipated reactions considering Russia’s reputation as a Winter Olympics powerhouse.

Heading into the 2010 Winter Olympics, Russian officials were reportedly expecting a 30-medal haul and a top three finish at Vancouver.

Instead, the Russian delegation collected just 15 medals, finishing in 11th place for gold medals with three, and sixth in the overall medals table.

It was the lowest ranking garnered in post-Soviet history by the country, which had always finished in the top five in the medal standings.

It owned the podium at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer with 23 medals, including 11 gold medals, but struggled at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Prior to the dismantling of the Soviet Union, the country owned the podium in nine Winter Olympics between 1956 and 1988, except for two instances where it finished runner-up

Russia is slated to host the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Medvedev stressed the need to start preparing for the next Winter Olympics, but the results in Vancouver must be taken into account in order to improve the country’s performance.

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