Summer games in Athens revealed the depressed state not only of the Russian sport but of the country in genera
The Olympic Games that have just ended made a rather sad impression. The successful finish for the Russian team added little joy to the overall sorrow. The final result is not optimistic. After all, this time we are 5 gold medals behind compared to the outcome of the Olympic Games in 2000. But which is more important, we failed to become a real competition for the Americans and the Chinese. During all the days of the event, we were behind these two teams in the number of gold medals. Though it seemed before the start of the games that we had a chance to get a grip of the first place in the number of gold awards and were sure to take the second place. In the end – bitter disappointment. And the last successful days for the team did not bring much happiness. It seemed that the last 2-3 days of the Olympiad were merely lucky and the previous going of the games was natural.
The Olympic Games are far from being the only failure in the past few years that Russia suffered in sports. Suffice to remember the recent world and European football championships, the Winter Olympic Games in Salt-Lake City. There are many reasons named – poor development of kids adolescent sport, referees’ conspiracy, lack of new talents. This is all correct. But another thing is obvious too: sports is a mere reflection of the overall country’s development. Its economic power and political stability. The Games show which countries pace today in the world politics and economy. USA and China are the two states that compete against each other in sports and in the world economy and politics. As well as Japan, Germany, France and Italy – they all gradually liquidate the once obvious supremacy of the soviet and then Russian sportsmen within the stadiums. And the reasons for this are clear – after all, they have outstripped Russia in the economic output and GDP numbers a long time ago.
So, not the results are surprising. The weird thing is that they became a revelation to the many. Probably, our fellow citizens are still living in the myths of the superpower. Meanwhile, only one American swimmer gathered as many gold medals in one week as the entire Russian team for the whole event. Is that a superpower?
The failures in Athens is not just a demonstration of the problems in sports. This is a vivid example of the general poor health of the nation. The situation in sports is a mirror reflection of the general situation in the country. This can be easily proved with examples.
Nearly the main reason for the fiasco in Athens was the total chaos in the sport management. The contemporary sports management doesn’t exist as it is. Many federations have turned into some self-regulated organizations, in which outrage rules with random splashes that reach the press. But still no one cares about it. We have similar problems in business and in the state machinery. Despite the administrative reform, an effective system of state management could not be achieved.
It is surprising how the sports management resembles our government. Officials of the both are fond of playing with figures and start shoving responsibility to each other when it comes to reviews. The promises to outstrip China and USA in gold medals number are similar to the assurances of the economic wonder and successful realization of the structural reforms by 2010. The year 2010 will not arrive fast but the soap bubble of loud-voiced statements by the sports officials is already blown up. And what do we see? The defeat in Athens became an orphan. It would be interesting to learn the reasons for the failure from the Physical Training and Sports Federal Agency Head Vyacheslav Fetisov. But he says it straight that the Olympic CMTE of Russia is responsible for everything that went on in Athens, adding that the Agency did everything it could. The Olympic CMTE points at federations and the latter blame the federal management. The circle closes. The situation with doping is no less silly. Everyone was speaking of the thorough checking that the sportsmen underwent before the competitions. Though one Russian female champion is caught using the substance that has been known for 15 years. And once again – there is no one to blame, every one is at a loss.
Similar story could be seen in our Cabinet of Ministers. Government Chair urges ministers to take all the responsibility for the going of the reforms. But the ministers demand the same from their direct boss. The recent scandals in the government became the reason for the unwillingness to take the blame for the possible economic failures in the future. The Cabinet was lucky to be able to use the high oil prices as a screen. However, oil does not help in the Olympiad. So the results of lack of officials’ order are more noticeable there. At that, many considered Fetisov to be the manager of the new formation, able to restore order. However, this did not happen. And we may observe such things not only in sports.
It seems that the top of the sports officials bares no responsibility for the Olympiad. They are playing on the successful finish. And no one remembers that the results of the Olympiad differ greatly from their initial forecasts. It is even possible to be sorry that the team managed to make a good showing at the end – if it did not, the chances for a punishment would be greater. Now the top functionaries are sure to come off clear. Probably, someone will try to blame for the lack of patriotism. Though it would be wiser to expose our sports officials of this. After all, they refused from the mourning bandages after the terrorist acts that caused many deaths, at the same time the Italians never took those off in the name of only one man – journalist Antso Baldonni, who was killed by the separatists in Iraq during the Olympic Games.
We saw it all after the fiasco in football games and the Winter Olympics too. And it is happening in every sphere. No guilty ones were found after the Nord-Ost seizure and Kursk death. No one was held responsible for the guerillas raid in Ingushetia. It is unclear who’s to blame for the baking micro-crisis and the gas prices surge.
Some say that the reason for the failures in Athens is the referees’ conspiracy. There’s nothing surprising in this, to my mind. Yes, referees do not respect or fear Russia. Which is exactly what’s happening in the world today. Say, president of the small Georgia nearly openly threatens Russia with a war, and there is no response to that. It is easy to continue the list of examples.
Departure of sportsmen and coaches from the country – this is exactly what is going on in the economy. The drain-away is a well-known fact. If we are unable to establish the conditions for work for programmers, engineers, scientists then why should sportsmen and their coaches should be an exception.
It is also interesting that we managed to show a successful performance in certain types of sports. We suffered a total fiasco in swimming (one silver medal) and gymnastics (only 3 medals out of possible 42, at that not a single golden one). Though we succeeded at track and field athletics, synchronous swimming, calisthenics. However, the major contribution to the golden piggy bank came from the shooters and combat disciplines (boozing and wrestling). This is the field where our country was strong in the past ten years – gunfire (including the moving targets) and scuffling. So, it is all natural and logical. The new national types of sport, I should say.
Besides, we see that many rewards were delivered by the veterans or the sportsmen prepared by the old coaches. When those retire, the situation will become dreadful. It is all the same in the economics – exhausting the main funds, refusal from long-term investments, massive capital drain – isn’t it all familiar to us? We are running out of the old economic heritage, and there is no new economy so far. There are only separate disseminations. The situation in sports is very similar.
However, Athens should not be a mere reason for depression. Still, I would like to believe that learning by our own mistakes would yield fruit. We shall see in four years in Beijing if we manage to change the country for the better. Or the status of the major counterbalance for the United States will finally go to China or Western Europe.
Konstantin Simonov, Director of the Center for Current Politics in Russia
