Once-powerful Russia far behind in gold medal race

LONDON (AP) — After a miserable first week in the gold medal stakes, traditional powerhouse Russia is showing signs of a revival — though not enough to avoid its lowest Olympic finish in 60 years.

While some of Russia’s strongest events are still to come, the team is set to wind up outside the top three in golds for the first time since the Soviet Union began competing at the games in 1952.

It’s a worrying sign for a country that will host the next Olympics, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, and follows Russia’s worst-ever performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
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Russia’s recent decline has coincided with China’s rise as an Olympic superpower and continued dominance by the United States.

The Russian daily Sports Express said in a front page commentary Monday that Russian sports was ‘‘frozen’’ between the Chinese and American systems. It blamed a shortage of state funding and lack of oversight and control over national sports federations.

‘‘It’s very far from China, where the watchful Communist Party is eyeing the selection process starting from the kindergarten stage, builds giant sports arenas and finances powerful medical research — and harshly demands results,’’ the paper said. ‘‘We must admit that we stand even further from the American model, and the distance keeps growing. Because it would be deadly if we end state involvement in sports as they did. Sports industries that will feed themselves are simply absent in our country.’’