I’d like to clarify it from the beginning. Leonid Vasilyevich Tyagachev is not going to relive the past and to put on his old skiing boots at the Olympiad 2010 in Vancouver. Moreover, I am confident that being a sportsman he never used drugs. And when he was a coach there were no dope scandals about him. However, high ranking and nervous positions like that of the President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), take much energy and effort. When athletes are checked for dope so that to avoid scandals and disgrace, why same cannot be done to the bosses? Their inadequate actions often harm the teams even more.        

When the fourth (!) Olympiad in succession our sportsmen do not get protected and are left alone at issues, while their results get worse every year, that makes one think that the ROC President and his teammates, who offer overstated medal targets every time, are either not much sane, or do not possess necessary knowledge and authority, and this is why they have to repeat every time the old mantra about the judge’s and dope plot.       

…Modern sport is proving ground for pharmacologists from all over the world, where not only research institutes, but also illegal labs are working. In other word, practically all athletes take dope-containing substances. However, it’s often Russians only to be caught with that. Why? The foreign jurists, knowing the “specific character” of the sports training, are always ready for getting in law and in 90% of cases they stand for their clients. And if using a dope by Russian athletes is an eye-opener for our officials, that is either slyness or incompetence.     

A sportsman has the only chance to become a made man – that’s winning the Olympiad. To achieve that goal, a person goes for any tricks, without fear. Accordingly, the officials who get their bread and butter out of those victories, must defend with might and main even those really at fault. So disqualification of our several athletes right before the Olympiad (it does not matter what was substituted in their dope tests) – this is an outcome of working by our sports bosses; it’s no plot against Russia.      

Now about merits by Tyagachev. That was very nice to show to journalists the repaired Olympic facilities. That was not very nice not to mention that Vyacheslav Fetisov also took part in that. And accusing the head of Rossport of a dope scandal with athletes – that was really something! So we went to Beijing having our little war going on between sports top officials. “We have done our best to prepare our sportsmen well. Within the period from 2005-2008 12 Bn rubles from the state budget were spent for preparations for Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing” reported Mr. Tyagachev proudly before setting off. Yes, that was no joke and the figure mentioned is correct. However, there is a big difference between spending and useful spending. By the way, some our Olympic contenders got to the Celestial Empire with Aeroflot adventures and difficulties, while our officials had no problems arriving in Beijing, as usual.           

Major part of our gold medals we gained in wrestling, calisthenics, synchronized swimming, tennis, athletics… I don’t know what exactly Tyagachev assisted the synchronized swimmers with. At least, they did not complain about the lack of nose pins. As for the rest, it does not seem that there is something to thank Leonid Vasilyevich for.     

Karelin and Mamiashvili have been doing their best for long so that the wrestlers want for nothing and only were concerned about competitions. Significantly, the wrestlers of Greco-Rome style have mentioned Karelin gratefully for making ideal conditions for work and rest in his native city of Novosibirsk.   

All our calisthenics is supported by Alisher Usmanov, the husband of the chief coach Irina Viner. He has time to buy up the shares of Arsenal and to organize practice sessions and competitions of A1 class for the girls with Indian clubs and bands. He also extends the fencers and our female musketeers have been able to get the only Russian gold in this kind of event.    

Our shots were a disappointment in Beijing. However, the fact we still can shoot is to be merited to the businessman Lisin. And training the “snipers” means not only guns and a million of cartridges, which is very expensive in itself.  

As for tennis, Mr. Tyagachev had better not to give a hint about that. Boris Yeltsin, who canonized this sport in Russia, has much more relation to the pedestal. Almost all our best players have settled down in America and Europe. They say, it’s easier for them to do so. Well, that’s understandable as no one in the country constructs new courts.     

And Isinbaeva? She lives and gets trained in Monaco. The motherland only supplied her with an Olympic uniform. Thanks to the businessman Kusnirovich…

I can well believe it that it was Tyagachev who arranged that Andrei Silnov, who finally made his gold-medal jump, be taken to the athletics team at the last moment. But, what kind of Olympic principle can we talk about when an athlete, who has not passed qualification competition, can go to Olympic Games under a rule-of-thumb? Well, anyway, this is to be credited to Mr. Tyagachev.  Now let’s count. Leonid Tyagachev has no relation at least to half of our gold stock, and anyway he enters everything as his success. This former downhill skier has been really lucky: there is the lack of “only” eight medals in gold target and same quantity in the team competitions, which does not seem to be a complete failure. And the minister of sport and tourism Mutko who accused … the analysts of this lack and who promised to make a detailed consideration at the ministry board, now has changed his attitude and hinted that he is not going to jump to conclusions.          

Well, there is no use in jumping to conclusions but it’s about time we admitted that real merits by Mr. Tyagachev are the indigent Olympic federations and sportsmen who get forgotten right after the Games till the next venue after four years, despite all promises to increase grants and wages. This is also about absolute lack of concept of development of Olympic movement, and the struggle with dope that is done mainly in a declarative way.   

And the result we got this time was just a bit better than the worst one in the last 12 years. Exupery noted once that a loser should keep silence. So it’s better to follow this advice. And better is having the check had and then resigning. We can manage somehow.