“If they cannot do it, we will help them”
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for the resignations of his country’s Olympic officials after the Russian team suffered its worst-ever results at the Vancouver Games. In a televised statement to leaders of his United Russia party, Medvedev derided Russian sports officials as “fat cats” and grimly suggested that “if they cannot [step down], we will help them.” Russia finished 11th in the overall medal standings and won just three gold medals at the Winter Games. Medvedev says he wants the country’s sports organizations to “change the system of preparing athletes” ahead of the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, and shift the focus to “the athlete himself, not the federations.”