Posted on 02/21/2002 6:45:50 PM PST by ATOMIC_PUNK
The Russian's comments came at a news conference hours after one of the nation's top athletes, cross-country skier Larissa Lazutina, was disqualified from the women's 20-kilometer relay because of high levels of hemoglobin found in a pre-race blood test.
"If decisions are not made and issues we raised not resolved, the Russian team will not play hockey, will not run 30 kilometers, will look very negatively on other factors," Tyagachev said.
Tyagachev said there was a 24-hour window to address the situation, and that if Russia left Salt Lake City it probably would not compete in Athens in the next Summer Games.
"Once you leave, it is not easy to come back in," he said.
IOC officials did not immediately return a phone call for comment.
‘We Are Clean’
The Russian men's hockey team is scheduled to play the United States in the semifinals on Friday.
As for Russia's cross-country skier, Tyagachev said that while Lazutina's hemoglobin count was just above the legal limit, she was not guilty of doping.
"We are clean," he said. "We have nothing to hide."
A urine test will determine whether Lazutina's case will be considered a drug positive. Results were expected Friday; she was scheduled to compete in the 30-kilometer classical event Sunday.
Lazutina, who has won two silvers at these games to increase her career medal total to nine, last raced Feb. 15 in the 5-kilometer pursuit.
Her disqualification knocked four-time defending champion Russia out of today's relay event.
Lingering Bitterness Over Skating Flap
But Tyagachev was upset by more than the Lazutina case.
He made repeated references to the figure skating judging dispute, in which Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the pairs' competition but had to share the gold medal with Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.
"This was a new decision that was practically unprecedented," he said. "We went along with the decision and tried to look at it objectively. … But we have only so much patience."
Tyagachev also referred to what he said were a high number of Russian athletes picked for drug tests and an unspecified ruling by a goal judge in ice hockey.
"I think we are seeing a witch hunt," he said.
Vitaly Smirnov, an IOC vice president from Russia, warned against taking his country's complaints too lightly.
"Without Russia, the Olympic Games will be lost," Smirnov said.
Tyagachev said he would meet with top officials of the International Ice Hockey Federation, the International Skating Union and the international ski federation FIS to discuss his complaints.
What ... you think we oughta be taking care a bidness on our home turf before we go hunting terr'ists abroad?
It's a toss-up. If he was a legit Murderous Pro-Lifer, he's probably long-dead (and I know no one who'd shed a tear).
If he was agent provocateur, he's probably in solitary for his own protection and charged with making out the envelopes for distribution of domestic-strain anthrax. =)
You have class?
Just kidding...lol!
Maybe if you took up figure skating........
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAH !!!!!
I'm gonna take my ball and go home, so there !!!
No problem - The good stuff's from Poland anyway...
As for Russia, don't let the door hit you on the back of the a..s on your way out.
No matter how whiny The Russians are, they will never match the French, who took 100 years to realize they were no longer the boss of the world. I'd much rather coddle them than fear them in a cold war.
Now the Koreans... how dare they accuse us of cheating... or have they forgotten about Roy Jones Jr. already?
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