Russia plays down Sochi medals chances after Vancouver flop

Westbrook ruled out till February with knee injury

MOSCOW: Russia’s Sports Minister on Saturday played down the hosts’ chances at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi following a bitterly disappointing 2010 performance in Vancouver.

The Soviet-era winter sports superpower managed just three gold medals in Canada - a finish that left them lagging in 11th place on the medals table and prompted an overhaul of the entire Olympic federation.

Russia responded by spending lavishly on top foreign coaches and pouring huge funds into new facilities that could help train a new generation of athletes for the Feb 7-23 Games on the Black Sea.

The Games’ success also carries heavy political overtones for the Kremlin amid its efforts to use patriotism to mobilise support around President Vladimir Putin’s 14-year rule.

Putin staked his personal reputation on the Games’ success by lobbying for Sochi’s candidacy before the International Olympic Committee and then spending more than US$50bil (RM164bil) for the event.

But Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said yesterday that fans should not expect miracles fromtheir team just because they were performing on home snow and ice.

“In my opinion, our situation is more difficult in the winter sports than it is in the summer ones,” Mutko told the Russian state’s rolling news channel.

“There are 98 sets of medals being contested in 14 sports. And only five themare our traditional ones inwhich we once had success,” the sports chief noted.

Mutko said he would be happy if Russia finished in the top five in the medals count thanks to residual strength in more traditional events such as cross country skiing and ice hockey at which the Soviet Union excelled.

But he said the country’s overall economic troubles and slow pace of post-Soviet scientific advancement made it difficult to compete in sports such as bobsleigh where technological breakthroughs gave teams the edge.

“Any Olympic podium finish is not only the result of work performed by the sports ministry or the minister,” he said in a seeming effort to deflect blame for potential disaster in Sochi.

“Today, it is also the achievement of the country itself. It is a reflection of its level of social and economic development. It is the level of the development of its science and technology,” he said.

Mutko was appointed Sports Minister in 2008 and survived the post-Vancouver purge thanks to warmrelations with Putin that stretch back to their early political carriers in native Saint Petersburg.

The Sports Minister had promised on March 12 that the “only estimated and expected result” in Sochi would be a top of the podium finish in the final gold medals count.

But a string of poor performances in this year’s various winter sports championships – from cross country skiing to figure skating – prompted Mutko to mention a few weeks later that a top three finish was also a fair result.

He downscaled those expectations still further by admitting that all the team could do was to try its best. — AFP OKLAHOMA CITY: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (pic) underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Friday but will miss about the next two months of the NBA season.

Over 25 games this season, Westbrook has averaged 21.3 points, six rebounds and a team-high seven assists for Oklahoma City.

His play helped ease the pressure opposing defences could bring against Kevin Durant, the NBA scoring leader at 28.1 points a game, and his absence will put more pressure onto Durant and Westbrook’s likely replacement, reserve Reggie Jackson.

Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti announced that Westbrook is not expected to return until after the NBA All-Star Game on Feb 16 at New Orleans.

“The consulting physician determined that arthroscopic surgery was necessary to address the swelling that was taking place,” said Presti.

That made the third procedure upon Westbrook’s right knee this year, amajorconcern for theThunder as the star playmaker will be difficult to replace in the line-up.

“We know Russell’s work ethic and commitment will help him return to the level of play that we have all come to appreciate,” Presti said. — AFP