The recent London Olympics saw an historic first: Russia’s
failure to place among the top three countries in gold medals
won; the U.S., China, and Great Britain all ranked higher. Elite
sports and politics are interconnected, and the Russian team’s
letdown highlights the current regime’s shortcomings. IMR's Olga
Khvostunova discusses the implications of the Russian
authorities’ unfulfilled promises. U.S. president John F.
Kennedy once said that a country's prestige in the international
arena can be measured in two ways: nuclear missiles and Olympic
gold medals. While Russia's nuclear power remains strong, the
drastically diminished number of gold medals at the London
Olympics could be a sign of country’s declining prestige.
Russia, as part of the USSR, first participated in the Olympics
in 1952. Soviet athletes won 22 gold medals in Helsinki and, to
everyone’s surprise, came in second overall. The Soviet Union
subsequently established itself as a sports superpower. In the
Summer Olympics that followed, the co