Games in Rio have come to the end. Our - the fourth

Well, the Games are over, the main sports festival has come to an end. Winners joyfully posing with medals, less successful rivals are comforted by the fact that the main thing is participation, and the city that hosted the Olympics dances samba. Sports should not have a relationship to politics, and fortunately, this rule is more often observed than ignored, although this time everything. Russian athletes were able to do what their fans hoped for and what the ill-wishers did not expect. They managed to achieve even more.

"Doping scandal"

The Russian national team arrived in Rio not in full force. The reason for the removal of more than a hundred athletes was the so-called doping scandal that arose on the basis of oral and unproven information, as well as the conclusions of the McLaren Commission, which also do not contain weighty arguments. Accused of using illicit drugs not only the potential participants of the Olympics, but also the state, supposedly encouraging them to do so.

How to weaken Russia?

Sports achievements are not the main indicator of the country's success, it is possible that the degree of economic development is objectively more important, but the people follow the successes and defeats of their teams intently, perceive them emotionally, and as Russia demonstrates the desire for an independent policy, With the help of which it is theoretically possible to drop its prestige. The main blow was applied to the athletics team, traditionally strong. It seemed that after such a "hole below the waterline", the Russian team would go hopelessly into the category of Olympic outsiders. Well, it is now clear that this did not work out.

Objective achievements

Despite the fact that of all Russian athletes athletes to perform in Rio was only Darya Klishina, and there were no weightlifters at all, the overall team graduation brought ours to the fourth place. Under the circumstances, this was not an easy task. A strong German team came forward several times, winning all new gold medals, and the most dramatic were the last two days, which gave our team six gold medals. Just a few hours before the closing of the Games, it became clear that Germany would not catch up with Russia to a high degree of probability, although miracles sometimes happen in sports. The total number of medals - 56, of which 19 - gold, 18 - silver and 19 - bronze. The best in the world were Russian fencers, wrestlers, judoists, handball players (for the first time ever), boxers, tennis players and, of course, gymnasts and synchronists, which has already become a good tradition. Second places also went to Russian sports and art gymnasts, boxers, wrestlers, bicyclists, fencers, archers, taekwondo players, and yachtsmen. Bronze was won by representatives of the following kinds of competitions: canoeing, shooting, swimming, wrestling, fencing, gymnastics, sailing, water polo and cycling.

Organization of Games

From the very beginning it became clear that the Olympics will be held in an economical mode, low-budget, but the Brazilian authorities will try to compensate for the lack of material investments by the exotic, colorful and festive atmosphere. Now we can state that in general, this was achieved. Skepticism voiced by many observers and even representatives of the Olympic Committee, fortunately, was not justified, and although there were cases of looting, scandals and some tension experienced by visitors during walks around the city, there were no serious incidents. No one was killed, not crippled, there was not even an attempt to commit an act of terrorism, which indicates the good work of the country's security services. No one complained about the lack of music, dances and other attributes of local color. Yes, the Brazilians sometimes behaved excessively expressive, including against Russian athletes, they whistled and shouted something not always courteous, but such is their southern temperamental nature, as for the reason for discontent, then he was prompted by helpful media , Broadcasted on the doping nature of our success.

Achievements of the organizers

However, to argue that the Olympics in Rio organized very poorly, too, no one language is not turned. Money was spent, and very large, it was felt by the glow of neon and pyrotechnics, costumed carnivals and other elements of a large-scale decoration, emphasizing the colorfulness of the action. After the announcement at the central stadium "Marakana" by the IOC president Thomas Bach about the closing of the XXXI Olympic Games, the word was traditionally given to the president of the organizing committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, and he expressed the pride of the country, city and people about the fact that everything was working out. Then the Olympic relay race was solemnly handed over to the representatives of Tokyo, where the next competitions will be held in 2020. It was a warm tropical rain, but it did not bother anyone.

Extraordinary discoveries of Rio

The reasons for the fact that Russia was in fourth place are already indicated above, but apart from the factors of administrative pressure, the Rio Olympics demonstrated the importance of the financial factor for achieving sporting success. The first places in the medal standings were taken by countries, which are usually called superpowers. However, these Games showed the desire of other states to declare themselves, they became unprecedented in terms of geographical representation of medalists. This time Rio's prizewinners are not only Americans, British, Chinese and Russians, but also representatives of small countries, which for the first time in their history have won gold, such as Puerto Rico, Singapore and Fiji. Teams of other superpowers, however, acted, according to many fans, not in full force.

China

Sportsmen of the PRC remained in the top three, but unlike the results of the Olympics in London, lost the second place in Britain. Yes, 26 gold medals are also very good, but four years ago they were won 38. It is possible that earlier Chinese athletes used some "border" means to achieve success, but such as to find fault with them very simply or simply Before them, as they say, the hands did not reach due to the attraction of increased attention to the Russian team, but this time everything had to be done honestly. Also, relatively low productivity can be explained by the "change of generations", during which the early record-breakers have already emerged from the most promising age, and young athletes have not yet acquired experience, "the son of difficult mistakes." Then this phenomenon is temporary.

United Kingdom

British athletes also "surrendered" a bit compared to the performance in their native capital, gold medals were two less (27 against 29 in London). However, consolation can serve as an increase in the total number of awards, also two (67 and 65 respectively). Especially noteworthy is the success of the rider Trott, the most successful sportswoman in the entire British sports history, who became the Olympic champion for the fourth time. The Triathlon brothers Brownley were also good. However, even the BBC commentators admit that it was easier to win medals without competitors in the person of Russian athletes (with the reservation "a few" or "slightly").

Lost and Found

Now it remains only to guess how many medals Russia did not make up due to the non-admission of athletes to the Games in Rio. In London, gold awards were 24, and it is possible that now our team would have climbed to third place, but the fact is that, at least, they managed to retain the fourth. Well, this result can be considered victorious in the current situation. Prejudice and prejudice toward Russians is not manifested in the first and, most likely, not the last time. What, then you need to win so that even questions do not arise.

In Rio, Russian athletes came in a form in which the name of their native country was written not in Latin but in Cyrillic, and many have already paid attention to this. Well, let them learn to read in Russian, this skill in the future can be very useful.