Russia Aims for Top Medals
M O S C O W, Aug. 3 -- There are few people in the world as intimidatingas Russian Greco-Roman wrestler Alexander Karelin.
At 286 pounds, with a thick neck, giant forehead and sunkeneyes, along with the enormous muscles coursing up his legs, armsand back, he is not a man you’d like to meet in a dark alley.
Or on the wrestling mat, for that matter.
Famous for a move in which he tosses his opponents over hishead, the three-time Olympic champion has never lost aninternational match and is one of the few athletes going into theSydney Games all but guaranteed to win gold.
Olympics Powerhouse?
Karelin is probably the biggest — literally and figuratively —of Russia’s medal hopes. But the country has many more, and Moscowis predicting it will recapture the Olympic dominance its athletesand coaches enjoyed under the Soviet Union despite money woes thatmean many training facilities are crumbling or out of date.
The Russians have strong swimmers, gymnasts, runners, volleyballplayers, boxers, divers, shooters and fencers.
The government has predicted Russia will win 36 gold medals, upfrom 1996 when it was a distant second to the United States with26. The Americans, they say, will trail just behind.
If the medal count turns out to be accurate, it would be anamazing reversal for the team that was crippled after the 1991 fallof the Soviet Union, when some of its best athletes, coaches andtraining facilities suddenly belonged to other countries.
Some had predicted the Russian sports machine would graduallydecline because of cash and equipment shortages. But its athletesonly appear to be getting stronger.
“It’s really a surprising phenomenon,” said Olympic historianValery Shteinbakh. “The sports ethic that was instilled many yearsago remains.”
Russia’s Strength in Many Sports
Aside from Karelin, the country is counting on world championhigh jumper Vyacheslav Voronin; Svetlana Masterkova, the 1996Olympic running champion in the 800 and 1,500 meters; and worldchampion gymnasts Alexei Nemov and Svetlana Khorkina.
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