Olympic diary: At the halfway mark through the Olympic games, Russia is in 10th place
With the Winter Olympics in Vancouver almost halfway over, Russia is still near the bottom, placed number 10, in the overall medal count with only one gold, two silvers and one bronze.
Russia`s hopes for its biathletes and figure skaters were not justified, while the athletes have failed to shake off the persistent attention from the doping control officers after several doping-related scandals in recent months.
Among the most frequently cited reasons for Russia`s poor performance in Vancouver are mismanagement of Russian sports officials and lack of psychological control on the part of the athletes.
The major blow came to Russia`s defending 2006 Olympic gold medal winner Evgeni Plushenko, who failed to become the first repeat men`s Olympic gold medalist since 1952.
Great expectations
Evgeni Plushenko managed to secure only the Olympic silver medal in the free skate in Vancouver, beat out by the U.S.`s Evan Lysacek who took the gold medal.
Japan`s Daisuke Takahashi will take home the bronze medal in the men`s figure skating event.
Russia`s women`s hockey success
Russia`s women`s hockey team enjoyed its first win in the preliminaries during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, beating the Chinese 2:1.
Russia`s two goals were made in the second half, with Ekaterina Smolentseva making the first goal just after the fourth minute and Marina Sergina at the 16th minute. China`s Jin Fengling made her team`s goal during the 17th minute.
Russia holds third place in Group B and will play against Slovakia on Saturday.
Russia`s men`s ice hockey failure
Russia lost to Slovakia 2:1 in the Olympic men`s hockey preliminary in a shoot-out on Thursday night.
The score was tied at 1:1 in an extra time bout, but the Slovaks finally won after a series of penalty shots.
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