Olympic reforms
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced changes included in the program of the next Winter Olympics, to be held in the Korean Pyeongchang in 2018. They can be considered quite a significant blow to the Russian team that won the medal standings of the Sochi Olympic Games in February 2014. None of the new disciplines – no big Eire snowboarding or in the mass start speed skating or in the mixed doubles curling, no team competition skiers – Russian sportsmen are not among the leaders. But the program fell parallel slalom in snowboarding, which just could be considered a golden Russian discipline.
The decision on the adjustment of the Olympic program was adopted by the executive committee of the IOC, who announced that the Olympic Games in PyeongChang in 2018 the debut of the four disciplines. This list includes big air snowboard (analogue acrobatics freestyle), speed skating mass start, team competition skiers, as well as mixed-double (each team consists of two people – a man and a woman) in curling. This program is excluded from the parallel slalom in snowboarding – it was only the parallel giant slalom. Thus, the total amount enacted for the Olympics in Pyeongchang winning increase by four compared to the Olympics in Sochi and will reach 102 sets.
The IOC said that the changes were made in connection with the request of the international federations, and entered into the program meet the necessary discipline to make it happen, criteria. Among them – the attraction for television and young audiences, the same gender availability, negligible impact on operating and infrastructure costs of the organizing committee.
Such mikroreformy – the usual practice for the IOC. For example, before the Sochi Olympics program has also undergone a correction. And she was even more significant. In Sochi Olympics compared to the Vancouver 2010 added 12 sets of medals. But if the reform program of the Russian Olympic Games did not cause, in fact, no particular reaction in the world, with Korean happened quite differently. Anyway, that fresh corrections in his view, appear justified, has said Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, and the best domestic Snowboarder Vic Wild general said the agency “F-Sport”, which “calls on the Russian Olympic Committee to explain why we lost the discipline, where we have multiple world champions and Olympic champions. ”
Such an attitude to him, however, is quite clear. Reformatting the program, which took place in front of the Sochi Olympics, it could even be considered as a kind of reverence towards her masters. About some of the new courses from the very beginning it was clear that they give the Russian team a good chance of medals, including gold. The reality is projected to match. The Russian national team has produced gold in the team competition skaters and parallel slalom in male snowboarders, as well as silver in the relay in luge. Largely due to these achievements, she managed to confidently take first place in the medal standings home Olympics.
But recent changes can be viewed rather as a not so weak a blow to Russia’s chances for a successful performance in South Korea. Excluded from the program parallel slalom in snowboarding was undoubtedly the Russian trump card. And among the favorites in Pyeongchang there would certainly not only Vic Wild, who got gold in Sochi and lost the Olympic discipline of registration, and to keep it adjacent – the parallel giant slalom. For example, at the World Cup snowboard this year the silver in the parallel slalom went to Andrey Sobolev, also won giant slalom. A Russian women’s team has several slalom stars such as Alain Zavarzin and Ekaterina Tudegesheva.
In this case, none of the emerging disciplines undisputed trump Russia can not be considered. The big Eire on the last World Cup the best of its representative – Anton Matveev – closed the top ten. In speed skating mass start situation is not much better. It usually succeed athletes specializing in stayers distances, while in Russia a truly strong sprinters and sredneviki. Curling effort also should not wait – the world’s elite includes only Russian women. Well, on the ski team tournament the whole country must put four athletes. In Russia, there is essentially one high skier – Alexander Khoroshilov.
But the new discipline provides a good chance the team, which are the main competitors of Russia in the fight for the top places in the team standings. For example, at the World Championships 2015 in Heerenveen two gold medals in the mass start went to representatives of the Netherlands, dominant in the sport. World Championship Gold in big Eyre got Finland and Switzerland are among the Russian competitors do not apply, but it is extremely strong in, for example, Canadians with Americans. World Championship in the mixed doubles curling was won by Hungary. However, it has become possible only because until recently the main curling nations such as Canada and Norway, treated competitions mixed duets seriously. They prepared for the Olympics in a completely different way. Team competitions in alpine skiing – it’s a great opportunity to excel for Austria, USA, Germany.
If the Korean version of the Olympic program in Sochi acted, the triumph of the Russian national team, in any case, the triumph is so convincing, it might not be. With 13 top awards, she was ahead by two Norwegians, three – Canadians, four – and five Americans – Dutch with the Germans. Without gold in the parallel slalom Wilde opponents camped close to a minimum for the Russian team. And some of them, it is not excluded, would have added a victory and prizes through the introduction of the program of the IOC just disciplines.
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