How many medals did the Russian team win at the Olympics? Unbroken: the Russian team performed well at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro Who is ahead of the Russian team in the medal standings.

RIO DE JANEIRO, August 22 - R-Sport, Nikolay Ryazantsev. Despite the scandal that flared up on the eve of the 2016 Olympic Games and the suspension of more than a quarter of the team, the Russian team showed itself worthy in Rio de Janeiro, taking fourth place in the medal standings.

The XXXI Summer Olympic Games, held for the first time in South America, ended on Sunday. Over 16 medal days, 306 sets of medals were awarded in 28 sports. The first place in the unofficial standings was taken by a large margin by the US team - 121 medals (46 gold). The Russians, like four years ago in London, finished in fourth position - 56 medals (19 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze).

Great, powerful, invincible: all the medalists of the Russian team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. PHOTO >>>

Initially, Russia was supposed to be represented at the Rio Games by 387 athletes, but as a result of the publication of a report by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on the alleged system of substituting doping tests at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) transferred the right of admission of Russian athletes to international federations, which “cut off” about a third of the entire composition.

As a result of a series of lawsuits to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), some athletes managed to defend their participation in the Games, but more than 100 Russians from the list of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) never came to Rio.

“Out of the total number (of Russians participating in the Games) - 280 people - 107 received a medal. In general, in almost all sports they fought for medals, we saw a very good fighting spirit of our team at this Olympics, despite all the vicissitudes, some then at the last moment he was allowed in, everyone came out and fought to the end. I would rate the performance as very successful and a performance despite the circumstances," ROC President Alexander Zhukov summed up the results of the Olympics.

Golden impulse of judokas

Judoists were the first representatives of martial arts to compete for Olympic medals, and Ezio Gamba's team gave more than a positive impetus, winning two top awards. Beslan Mudranov brought the first Brazilian gold on the starting day of the Games, opening the account for the national team's awards in Rio de Janeiro. Moreover, the athlete won in the weight category up to 60 kg, repeating the success of compatriot Arsen Galstyan four years ago.

The second gold medal was won by Khasan Khalmurzaev (81), and Natalya Kuzyutina (52) won the bronze medal. Moreover, the Russian won the first medal for the women’s team after a 12-year pause - at the 2004 Games, third place was taken by Tea Donguzashvili (+78), now the team’s senior coach. The general manager of the Russian national team, Gamba, called the result “super good and amazing.”

Meanwhile, Russian taekwondo athletes, who had ambitious plans before the tournament, finished the tournament with one silver medal. Bronze medalist of the 2012 Olympics Alexey Denisenko (68) added to the Olympic collection by taking second place. His colleagues could not support him: Anastasia Baryshnikova (67), who became third at the Games in London, and debutant Albert Gaun (80) suffered failures in their first fights.

New Musketeers

The fencing competition ended with a real triumph for the Russians: 7 medals at the Olympic tournament held at the Carioca-3 arena in the Olympic Park of Rio de Janeiro.

Four gold medals were won in saber (Yana Egoryan), team saber (Egoryan, Sofia Velikaya, Ekaterina Dyachenko, Yulia Gavrilova), women's foil (Inna Deriglazova) and men's team foil (Alexey Cheremisinov, Timur Safin, Artur Akhmatkhuzin). Silver was won in the women's saber (Velikaya), two bronzes - in the men's foil (Safin) and women's team epee (Tatyana Logunova, Violetta Kolobova, Lyubov Shutova, Olga Kochneva).

Saber fencer Yegoryan became a two-time Olympic champion. On the way to the final, she defeated her compatriots - first Dyachenko in the quarterfinals, and directly in the most decisive match of the tournament favorite Velikaya with a minimal margin - 15:14.

“I dedicate this victory, among other things, to the athletes who were not allowed to participate in the Olympics,” said the most successful Russian fencer at the tournament.

The Great One again suffered a disappointing defeat in the final, but the team gold should serve as a good consolation for her. The 31-year-old athlete emphasized that she is not yet thinking about retiring from her career.

Domestic fencing traditions have previously been supported by awards from the Olympic Games, but in “Carioca-3” a real celebration of Russian weapons took place. The head coach of the Russian national team, Ilgar Mamedov, noted that after the Games “there was a boom in fencing.”

“School directors call and say that there has never been such an influx into our schools. This is very pleasing! The more children come, the more champions we will have,” the coach shared his satisfaction.

Layed on my shoulder blades

The Russian national wrestling team has made a significant contribution to the national collection of Brazilian medals. The path to gold was paved by Greco-Roman athletes. Victories were won by Roman Vlasov (75), who won the second Olympic Games in a row, and debutant Davit Chakvetadze (85), who supported the initiative of the team captain. And the winner of the bronze medal was super heavyweight Sergei Semenov (up to 130).

For the first time in Olympic history, the women's team competed in two finals. Alas, in a dramatic struggle, Valeria Koblova (58) and London Olympic champion Natalya Vorobyova (69) lost to the Japanese in the last seconds of the fight. And the next day Ekaterina Bukina (75) won bronze.

Annoying failures one step away from gold angered the president of the Russian Wrestling Federation (FSBR), Olympic champion of Seoul, Mikhail Mamiashvili: he called defeat ten seconds before the end “the lot of nonentities,” and then Inna Trazhukova, who lost in the fight for bronze, said that Mamiashvili he insulted her and hit her twice.

The athlete intends to appeal to the prosecutor's office, to which the head of the FSBI stated: “I am ready. Let the court order me to behave more correctly in such a situation. No court will convince me that I have no right to express this to a weak-willed and indifferent person.”

In the freestyle wrestling competition, the third and fourth gold medals for the team were brought to them by Abdulrashid Sadulayev (86) and Soslan Ramonov (65), who left no chance for their opponents. Aniuar Geduev (74), who knocked out the 2012 Games champion, American Jordan Burrows, was also close to gold. In the final, the Russian won with a score of 6:0, but a severe cut did not allow the fight to be brought to victory.

Overall victory

Russian synchronized swimmers have traditionally won both types of programs, leaving no chance for their competitors in either program. Svetlana Romashina and Natalya Ishchenko won gold in the duet. In addition to them, Alexandra Patskevich, Svetlana Kolesnichenko, Maria Shurochkina, Vlada Chigireva, Alla Shishkina, Gelena Topilina and Elena Prokofieva won gold in the group.

For the Olympic Games, Ishchenko and Romashina were preparing a new technical and a new free program. However, as the season progressed, it was decided to leave the “Gypsy” program for performance at the Games, with which they won the World Championships in Kazan, as well as the European Championships in London in May of this year. By the way, it was in London that the duo showed their new free composition - “Mermaids”. These two compositions brought them gold at the Games.

Then Romashina and Ishchenko joined the group, and there the advantage of the Russians was obvious after the technical program “Rhythms of the City”, and the next day, having received “tens” for the free program “Prayer”, the Russian synchronized swimming team won the second gold of the Games. It became the fifth in their careers for Romashina and Ishchenko, who equaled their former team partner Anastasia Davydova in the number of Olympic gold medals. And, repeating her experience, Ishchenko and Romashina were elected standard-bearers of the team at the closing ceremony.

Everyday gold of artists and breakthrough of gymnasts

Margarita Mamun won the individual all-around in rhythmic gymnastics, ahead of her compatriot and friend Yana Kudryavtseva. The final of the competition turned out to be dramatic: Mamun, after the first two events - hoop and ball - was inferior to Kudryavtseva and came second. However, in the third exercise with clubs, Kudryavtseva, who had recovered from a serious injury received a year ago before the Games, made a mistake. Mamun performed the exercise cleanly, taking the lead, and as a result of the exercise with the ribbon, she secured victory ahead of schedule. Both athletes said after the award ceremony that they would not make any plans, but would like to compete in Tokyo 2020.

Also, the Russian team in group exercises consisting of Anastasia Maksimova, Anastasia Bliznyuk, Anastasia Tatareva, Vera Biryukova and Maria Tolkacheva won the all-around, ahead of the Spanish and Bulgarian women. After the exercise with five ribbons, the Russians were third, but thanks to the excellent execution of the program with two hoops and six clubs, they came out ahead with high marks, and no one could get ahead of them.

And the Russian artistic gymnastics team won eight medals: one gold, four silver and three bronze. The only award of the highest standard to the Russian national team was brought by Aliya Mustafina, who became the first in the uneven bars exercises. In total, the now two-time Olympic champion took three medals in Rio de Janeiro, adding bronze in the individual all-around and silver in the team competition to gold.

The team tournament ended not only in second place for the Russians, but also in the same result for the men’s team, for the first time in 16 years. Denis Ablyazin also leaves Rio with two medals. The Russian gymnast took bronze on the rings, which became his first Olympic medal in this event, as well as silver in the vault. Maria Paseka also took second in the vault.

“The meaning of these medals is different compared to London,” said senior coach of the Russian national team Valentina Rodionenko. “Apiary was bronze, became silver. The second Olympic gold was won by Aliya, who during the entire preparation cycle received more treatment than training, this says a lot. The price of the medal has increased. And the guys’ second place in the team is tantamount to victory.”

Boxers did not improve their London results

Russian boxers were unable to surpass the result of the Games in London, again winning one top award. The winner of the tournament was the current world champion Evgeniy Tishchenko (91), and on the final day of the competition, silver was won by the winner of the 2011 and 2013 world championships Misha Aloyan (52), who took third place four years ago.

Games debutants Vladimir Nikitin (56), Vitaly Dunaytsev (64) and Anastasia Belyakova (60) won bronze medals. Moreover, Nikitin and Belyakova could have claimed medals of a more noble denomination, but the athlete received a serious cut on his eyebrow in the quarterfinals and, for medical reasons, was forced to abandon the semi-final match, and Belyakova received a serious arm injury in the first round of the semi-final and was forced to leave the ring.

After four out of nine boxers were defeated, the head coach of the Russian national team, Alexander Lebzyak, said that some athletes came to the Games as “passengers” and “tourists.” The words caused a wide resonance not only in the media. Thus, the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov criticized the coach’s statements and called him a “tourist.”

Lebzyak later clarified that he intentionally made such a statement. “I specifically said it to hurt them (the boxers). So that they would get angry, so that they would not be spineless, but would enter the ring with emotions, so that they would give everything in the ring and win a medal,” the specialist said.

It was after the emotional speech of the head coach that the Russians won several awards, including Tishchenko’s gold.

Even the “left” horse is not a hindrance for Lesun

The Olympic tournament in modern pentathlon ended with the triumph of Russian Alexander Lesun, who set an Olympic record in fencing (28 victories in 35 fights) and in total points: based on the results of four events, the Russian scored 1479 points. The champion himself admitted that he felt calm at the tournament, sometimes even too much. “At the last shooting, I already saw the gold medal. And I made two misses in a row. So, I tell myself, get it together, there’s no medal yet,” said Lesun, who also said that he “felt like the master here.”

After the victory, Lesun said that during the competition his horse was changed because it had heart problems. At the same time, the Russian still had problems overcoming obstacles with the other horse.

“As for Sasha Lesun, a man said a man did. Before leaving for the Olympics, he said that he would win gold, and he did it. You can’t say anything here. True, they slipped him a left horse at the competition, but that didn’t stop him. He survived, he’s great!” - said the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko.

In the women's tournament, unfortunately, disappointment befell one of the favorites - Russian Donata Rimshaite, who performed unsuccessfully in her signature event - fencing, and eventually finished 12th in the combine.

“It seems to me that this is the worst performance in the history of Donata Rimshaite’s career,” said Vyacheslav Aminov, president of the Federation of Modern Pentathlon of Russia (FSPR). Another Russian, Gulnaz Gubaidullina, is 15th, and for a young athlete who set an Olympic record in swimming, this is a success.

One dream for two

Tennis players Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina have never hidden the fact that the Olympic gold medal has been their main dream and goal since they decided to play as a pair in 2012. Four years later, this dream came true: having shown brilliant play throughout the tournament, the Russians in the final match left no chance for the legendary Martina Hingis and her Swiss teammate Tima Baschinski. This gold was the first Olympic success in pairs for Russian tennis.

“We want to cry with happiness. I always dreamed of getting a medal at the Olympic Games, and finally it happened. We went through a lot: through injuries and pain, and we are doubly happy about this victory,” Makarova shared her emotions immediately after the final match.

It is worth noting the performance of the young Russian Daria Kasatkina, who at her first Olympic Games was able to reach the quarterfinals of the singles and doubles (together with Svetlana Kuznetsova) categories.

“Generally speaking, all the girls did everything they could, some could do better, our same pair Kasatkina-Kuznetsova had three match points,” said Russian women’s team coach Anastasia Myskina. “Dasha had an amazing tournament, but she was a little tired to the quarterfinals, playing two matches a day in such heat and with such responsibility..."

Handball players made history

Russian handball players in Rio won Olympic gold medals for the first time in history. In Rio de Janeiro, Evgeniy Trefilov’s team played eight matches and won eight victories. In the semi-finals, the draw brought the Russians together with the winners of the last two Olympics - the Norwegians. Both teams showed absolutely equal play in the match for reaching the final, but in the end the Russian team won - in overtime with a score of 38:37.

The game for Olympic gold with the French women took place with a clear advantage of the Russian handball players, although in the middle of the second half the opponents were able to even the score at some point, but the Russians again took the lead and brought the match to victory - 22:19.

After the victory, Trefilov said that he was not going to leave the team. “I have all the titles except the European Championship. So I will definitely work with the team at this tournament. Let’s try to work through another Olympic cycle, why not? Another thing is that in life everything is possible,” said the coach of the Olympic champions.

In turn, the President of the Russian Handball Federation Sergei Shishkarev noted the team’s enormous contribution to the popularization of the game in the country.

“Today our match was shown in prime time, we had to make a holiday for the country. They said that the whole country was watching, everyone was watching,” Shishkarev told reporters. “I said that these gold medals are important for the development of handball. To see once this, to look at such dynamics, such emotions. They did what the federation had not done in 20 years. The whole country was watching, and it was not in vain that they watched."

A long voyage and four medals

Russian swimmers won four medals following their performance in Rio de Janeiro. Four-time world champion Yulia Efimova (100 and 200 m breaststroke) was twice on the verge of victory; Evgeniy Rylov (backstroke) and Anton Chupkov (breaststroke) won bronze in the 200 m.

The team was not preparing for the start in the best psychological conditions. After the WADA report, the team could lose seven athletes - Efimova, Russian record holder Natalya Lovtsova, Mikhail Dovgalyuk, Games medalists Vladimir Morozov, Nikita Lobintsev, as well as World and European Championships medalist Daria Ustinova. As a result, after the decisions of CAS, all seven returned to the application for the Games, but this whole story could not help but affect the result. Morozov and Ustinova were left without medals at their distances.

At the same time, Efimova had to withstand psychologically after the first medal, defending herself from the attacks of American swimmers. The winner, Olympic champion Lily King, openly made it clear even before the final that she did not consider Efimova a “pure” athlete.

At the press conference, the Russian woman had a difficult time answering questions from journalists about whether she considered her presence at the Olympics acceptable after two doping cases. Even Michael Phelps spoke negatively about Efimova - in response, she recalled the story with marijuana, although only after winning silver in the 200 m breaststroke.

“There are only two Americans I trust: Dave Salo and John Urbanchek (Efimova’s coaches in Los Angeles). I don’t give a damn about the opinions of others,” said the now three-time Olympic medalist.

Well, the Americans themselves were pleased with the most titled Olympian in history - Michael Phelps, who exchanged his third dozen gold medals at these Games and promised not to remain in the sport until the Olympics in Tokyo. In Rio, Phelps won as part of three relay races - two freestyle and a medley, as well as the 200 m butterfly and medley. “The Baltimore Bullet” won another silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly.

American Katie Ledecky set world records at two distances in Rio. In total, she has three gold medals at individual distances - Katie occupied the highest step of the podium in the entire long crawl (200, 400, 800 m). The American received another gold in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay. Ledecky also won silver in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay.

Such different shooting

The Russian team in shotgun shooting took four awards (two silver and two bronze), each of which was brought to the team by debutants of the Games, and the national team in skeet shooting for the first time since the 1992 Olympics was left without medals; moreover, the Russians did not reach the finals in any from exercises.

Silver medals in Rio were won by 19-year-old Vitalina Batsarashkina (in air pistol shooting at a distance of 10 meters) and 28-year-old Sergei Kamensky (small-caliber rifle, three positions, 50 meters). Bronze medals went to 22-year-old Vladimir Maslennikov (air rifle, 10 meters) and 24-year-old Kirill Grigoryan (small-caliber rifle, prone position, 50 meters). Thus, the Russian bullet fighters showed the best result in Rio in the last 12 years: in London the team did not have a single medal, in Beijing - two silver and one bronze.

In another archery event, Ksenia Perova, Inna Stepanova and Tuyana Dashidorzhieva set a historic achievement in Rio - for the first time in the history of Russian archery they were able to win Olympic silver medals. In addition, these awards were the first for Russian women at the Olympics. Perova, Stepanova and Dashidorzhieva, the 2015 world champions, reached the finals at the 2016 Games in team competitions, where they lost to the South Korean team - the constant winner of team competitions at all Olympics, the program of which included this discipline.

Zabelinskaya's feat, silver and bronze on the track, BMX debut

Russian cycling did not escape losses after the WADA report. Due to the IOC rule, according to which Russian athletes with doping cases in their careers were not allowed to start at the Olympics, the team had to lose the winner of the Tour de France stage Ilnur Zakarin, the Games medalist in road cycling Olga Zabelinskaya, and track team member Sergei Shilova.

When CAS lifted this rule, it was already too late for Zakarin: the men's group race was on the first day of the competition, and he was in Russia. But Olga Zabelinskaya took the start line, won silver in the time trial and expressed her intention to go to Tokyo as a player-coach.

Sergei Shilov was able to return to the race track, but due to CAS’s rejection of the appeal in the case of the three track athletes mentioned in Richard McLaren’s report - Dmitry Strakhov, Dmitry Sokolov and Kirill Sveshnikov - the quota in the team race went to the Italians. Therefore, track athletes fought for medals exclusively through the efforts of the sprint group. And she did not disappoint - Anastasia Voinova and Daria Shmeleva won silver in the team sprint, and Denis Dmitriev took third place in the individual.

It is worth noting that the Russian team has not had two medals on the track since the Olympics in Athens, and Dmitriev’s medal in the individual sprint discipline for men was the first for domestic cycling since the Games in Seoul.

Then BMX entered the fray. In this type of cycling, the Russians competed at the Olympics for the first time and coped with the task - 19-year-old Yaroslava Bondarenko, the youngest rider of the Olympic BMX tournament, reached the finals in supercross, where she took fifth place. In the men's competition, Evgeniy Komarov finished the fight for medals at the quarterfinal stage.

In mountain biking, Beijing Games medalist Irina Kalentyeva took to the start line in the women's cross-country race. Unfortunately, the athlete broke her finger during one of the pre-race training sessions, and a recent operation to remove appendicitis also took its toll, which did not allow her to get into optimal shape for the Games. As a result, Kalentyeva arrived at the finish line 17th, but did not lose her presence of mind.

For the first time in 16 years

For the first time in the last 16 years, Russian water polo players not only made it into the medal match, but also managed to win bronze. The path to the Games for the Russian team, led by Alexander Gaidukov, was not easy: during the Olympic cycle, many things changed in it, including the head coach. At the qualifying tournament in Gouda, the Russians qualified for the Games last from Europe in a match that claimed the title of “drama of the year.” The Russians won on penalties.

Several months passed, the team flew to Brazil and began the tournament with a loss to the Australians 4:14. Then there was a victory over the Brazilian team (14:7) and again a defeat, this time from the Italians (5:10).

The plan was to reach the Spanish women in the quarter finals and there compete for the right to qualify for the medal matches. Team captain Ekaterina Prokofieva scored a much-needed goal in the game against Spain, and the Russians advanced to the semifinals. Unfortunately, they failed to defeat the Italians at this stage of the tournament (9:12), but already in the bronze medal match with Hungary, the Russian team produced a new thriller. A little over a minute before the end of the match, the Russian team managed to miss a penalty, come back and win the post-match penalty shootout.

“Nobody believed in us, Gaidukov and the girls and I proved to ourselves and everyone else that we are capable of much. This, of course, is a miracle and a historic day for us. I hope that the Russian national team, both women’s and men’s, will rise and move forward. There are good coaches and players, material with which to work. What we have done now is a sports feat," said team coach Andrei Belofastov.

Favourable wind

For twenty years, Russian sailing was in the shadows, but from the very first days of competition in the RS:X class for women, it became clear that a lot could change in Rio. RS:X is an Olympic type of windsurfing. 19-year-old Russian Stefania Elfutina approached the medal race as a favorite, taking second place. At the start of the race she received a penalty, but then she was able to correct the situation and become third. Gold was actually very close.

"Quiet joy inside, I screamed on the water, incredibly happy. Not the best race, I didn’t remember the points, then they told me that I was third, and I was incredibly happy. This medal is very important for me and for Russia, to show that we have there are seas, weather conditions, that we can be a strong team in sailing,” said Elfutina, to whom a regatta will now be dedicated in her native Sochi.

Volleyball sadness

For the first time since 2000, volleyball players of the Russian national team failed to win a medal at the Olympic Games. The Russians were left without bronze medals, losing to the USA team in five sets in the match for third place on the last day of the Olympic Games. The captain of the Russian team, Sergei Tetyukhin, for whom this was the sixth Olympics, lost the opportunity to become the first five-time Olympic medalist in the history of volleyball and announced his retirement from the national team, as did libero Alexei Verbov.

Prior to this, in the semi-finals, Russian volleyball players lost to the finalists of the 2012 Games, the Brazilians, and without serious resistance - 0-3. “After London, after the European Championship, we never beat a strong team. Our volleyball stopped for some reason, we need to figure this out, why we can no longer beat the strong ones,” the head coach of the national team, Vladimir Alekno, diagnosed. “They didn’t let us play just the way we wanted."

The Brazilians eventually became Olympic champions, beating the Italian team in the final.

The performance of Russian volleyball players in Brazil ended in failure. The team led by Yuri Marichev quite confidently passed the group stage, but in the quarterfinals it weakly lost to the Serbian team (9:25, 22:25, 21:25), ending the fight for medals. Marichev himself called this defeat “coaching,” suggesting that the leadership of the All-Russian Volleyball Federation look for a new specialist for his post. “We will hold a coaching council and executive committee, and evaluate the work,” the head of the organization, Stanislav Shevchenko, did not rush things.

Beach volleyball players performed above expectations in Rio de Janeiro, delivering some unexpected victories but falling just short of medals. For women, Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Birlova dramatically reached the quarterfinals, where they met with the main favorite of the Olympics - the Brazilian couple Agata Bednarchuk / Barbara Seixas. The Russians led 19:13, but did not maintain their advantage in the set, losing both it and the second game - 16:21.

In the men's tournament, Russian representatives performed even better. Nikita Lyamin and Dmitry Barsuk could easily have defeated Italians Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in the quarterfinals, but lost to them in the third set - 11:15. Next, the Italians knocked out the second, best Russian pair - Vyacheslav Krasilnikov / Konstantin Semyonov. Then the Russians lost the match for third place, leaving with a “wooden” award.

Bolt's triple-triple and Isinbayeva's farewell

The only Russian woman allowed to compete in athletics, Daria Klishina, failed to win a medal at her first Olympics. The long jumper, who has been living and training in the United States for several years, was able to qualify with a score of 6.64 meters, but in the final she stopped competing for awards after only three attempts, finishing in ninth place.

“Of course, I can’t say that I’m happy with my result. Based on the control training, I was ready for a much better result,” said Klishina, who confirmed that she will continue to live and train in the USA.

The triumphant track and field tournament was the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who won three gold medals in Rio de Janeiro - at distances of 100 and 200 meters, as well as as part of his team in the 4 x 100 meter relay.

Bolt announced in advance that the 2016 Olympics would be the last of his career. Thanks to victories in Beijing, London and Rio, he has nine Olympic gold medals. “I want my country to be at its best. I brought a lot to it and, when I leave sports, I will also work for the benefit of my country. I will miss the Olympic Games. I did everything I could, I think I fulfilled my mission,” Bolt stated.

Two-time Olympic champion in pole vaulting Elena Isinbaeva was not able to compete at the Olympics, but flew to Rio de Janeiro to participate in the elections to the IOC Athletes’ Commission. Voting, which was held among athletes, ended on August 17. According to its results, Isinbayeva received 1,365 votes, taking fourth place and joining the IOC commission for the next eight years.

“I will definitely be a very active member of the IOC athletes’ commission, since the situation in which I find myself today is unfair, and I would like to avoid such injustice in the future and protect, first of all, our athletes from it. Today I will have such an opportunity and such influence I will use them to the maximum,” Isinbayeva told reporters after her election.

The famous athlete also officially announced her retirement. “I thought I would be so sad today and thought about how to hold back my tears. But my election to the IOC athletes’ commission inspired me so much! And now I say goodbye to the sector, to my poles, to the anthem in my honor, because every athlete is a little selfish and it will be difficult to get such emotions in life. But I realized myself. I earned the trust and love of fans all over the world. This is the height of dreams, great happiness," said the two-time Olympic champion.

Bleeding rowing

Following Russian track and field athletes and weightlifters, who were not allowed to participate in the Games at all, were Russian rowers in terms of the number of losses. In rowing, out of six crews that won Olympic licenses, only one remained, and that one was formed on the principle of “whoever was allowed.” Anton Zarutsky, Artem Kosov, Vladislav Ryabtsev and Nikita Morgachev, initially announced to participate in the eights, competed in the coxless fours competition and took only 10th place.

In kayaking and canoeing, Russia lost 2012 Olympic champion Alexander Dyachenko, 2014 World Cup silver medalist Natalya Podolskaya and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and multiple world champion Alexei Korovashkov. In their absence, those from whom few expected success took the leading roles.

Kayaker Roman Anoshkin, who only in the last couple of years began to show stable results in single sculls, took bronze at a distance of 1000 meters. Bronze should also go to canoeist Ilya Shtokalov, who took fourth place at the same distance, but it later turned out that Moldovan Sergei Tarnovsky, who beat him in the finishing line, failed a doping test.

In the rowing slalom, all five Russians were allowed to compete, but could not reach the podium. After completing his heats, the most experienced member of the team and its captain, Alexander Lipatov, said that these were his last Games, and the 2008 Beijing bronze medalist Dmitry Larionov announced his retirement.

We jumped

What happened during the diving competition at the Maria Lenk arena. Even at the test starts, it was said that the Olympic diving tournament should not be held in an outdoor pool. At the top, near the tower, the wind was blowing, the pool “bloomed” under the jumpers’ feet, and the athletes were actively posting photos with green water from the diving bath on social networks. There were many surprises in this arena, but only one thing remained unchanged - the dominance of China.

The best team of the Olympic tournament, as expected, was the dominant Chinese team in this sport with its ten medals (7 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), and the Russian team for the first time in the last 28 years was left without awards based on the results of its performance at the Olympic Games, despite its presence in consisting of London champion Ilya Zakharov, Games medalist Evgeny Kuznetsov, European Championship winners Viktor Minibaev, Ekaterina Petukhova and Yulia Timoshinina.

Kuznetsov was the closest to a medal, stopping one step away from the podium at the end of the three-meter springboard final. Kuznetsov took his performance critically, but at the same time asked to stop attacks on the jumpers and the head coach of the national team Oleg Zaitsev. “I have a negative attitude towards this, I think that these are traitors to the Motherland who open their mouths against their own people, these are low and scum people. I’m talking about everyone who says nasty things about our head coach,” said Kuznetsov.

Verchenova with a record, but without a medal

After more than 100 years, golf has returned to the Olympic Games program. Athletes had to complete 72 holes in four days in a place inhabited by crocodiles, and the competition was sometimes interrupted by running capybaras. The only representative of Russia, Maria Verchenova, became 16th. On the last day of play, she showed her best result, setting a field record.

The Russian duo Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov performed well in the badminton competition, reaching the quarterfinals. Despite Sozonov's serious injury and lack of match practice, the Russians won all their matches in the group, and in a bitter fight they lost to the Chinese pair Chai Biao/Hong Wei - 13:21, 21:16, 16:21. Competitions in table tennis, triathlon, equestrianism and trampolining also did not bring medals to Russia.

Neymar helped Brazil satisfy Olympic hunger

It's hard to believe, but the Brazilian national football team has never won an Olympic gold medal in its history, and finally it happened at the home Games. The main star was Barcelona forward Neymar, who was mercilessly criticized by fans and the press during the tournament. However, this did not break the striker, and in the final against the German national team, he first scored in regular time, and in the penalty shoot-out he scored the decisive blow.

The American "dream team" again had no equal in the men's basketball tournament. At the group stage, only the French (100:97) and Serbs (94:91) were able to provide serious resistance, losing by only three points. In the playoffs, Mike Krzhizhevsky’s team could no longer be held back - victories over Argentina (105:78), Spain (82:76) and the defeat of the same Serbia (96:66) in the final brought them the 15th title in history. Carmelo Anthony, meanwhile, became the first US basketball player to play in four Olympics. The Americans won the women's tournament for the sixth time in a row.

In the first ever Olympic rugby sevens tournament, the Australian women's team and the Fiji men's team excelled, which brought the first medal in history to the dwarf state in Oceania.

In general, there were quite a few historical achievements at the Games in Brazil. Thus, Puerto Rican Monica Puig, who sensationally won the women's tennis tournament, brought the first gold in history to her country. So are Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh, Jordanian taekwondo athlete Ahmad Abughaush, hammer thrower Dilshod Nazarov from Tajikistan, Bahrain runner Ruth Jebet, Ivorian taekwondo athlete Sallah Cisse, Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling and Kosovo judoka Mailinda Kelmendi.

Dangerous games

The main problem before the start of the Games seemed to be the issue of security, with which, according to tradition, everything is not very good in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian government sent about 40 thousand military personnel to protect law and order, who could be found wherever guests of Rio could theoretically be. There were no major incidents, but several unpleasant episodes did occur. Somehow - a window on a bus for journalists broken by either a bullet or a stone, or a stray bullet that hit the tent for journalists at the hippodrome.

The most scandalous case was that of American swimmers Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Fagen, who said they were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi while returning to the Olympic village from a party. The athletes subsequently told police that the robbery story was made up, and Lochte apologized for the story, admitting that he was very drunk. The IOC created a special disciplinary commission to investigate the scandal, and the International Swimming Federation (FINA) said it would take action against the four athletes.

The Russians were not spared the problems: the silver medalist of the 2012 Olympics, the president of the Moscow Swimming Federation, Evgeny Korotyshkin, was robbed on the way to a restaurant near Ipanema beach by unknown men with weapons.

“Everything is fine with me. I talked with the guide and a local resident. They say that there is no point in contacting the police: my phone is already in the favelas, and even the police don’t go there,” Korotyshkin shared his impressions.

Also during the opening ceremony, the house of Russian fans, located on the famous Copacabana beach, was robbed.

Belgian judoka Dirk van Tichelt was celebrating his bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics when his phone was stolen on Copacabana Beach. He ran after the robber, and when he caught up, he was hit in the face. Van Tichelt was taken to hospital but received no further treatment.

An unpleasant episode also occurred in the leadership of the IOC. Throughout the Olympics, the red line was the topic of speculation in tickets to the competitions. As a result, the head of the European Olympic Committees, Patrick Hickey, was arrested, who is suspected of illegally transferring tickets to speculators who sold them at inflated prices.

His arrest came after police detained a man with 800 illegal tickets in Rio. According to police, the 71-year-old official tried to escape when law enforcement officers came to arrest him. After his arrest, Hickey felt unwell and was taken to a hospital in the city, but was later discharged and must now appear in court.

On the night of August 21-22, the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio ended. For Russia, these games have become very difficult, one might even say scandalous. However, our athletes overcame all the tests and ended up fourth in the medal standings. And this is what the Olympic medal ranking looks like.

10. Australia

There are 29 awards in total: 8 gold, 11 silver, 10 bronze.

On the first day of the Olympics, the Australians showed the best result in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle aquatic relay. The women's four set a world record of 3:30.65. However, it was not possible to maintain a vigorous medal pace until the end of the games; in the end, only 10th place.

9. Italy

The total number of medals is 28: 8 gold, 12 silver, 8 bronze.

Fabio Basile defeated the representative of South Korea in judo (weight up to 66 kg). Another gold medal will be brought home by foil wrestler Daniele Garozzo, who was considered an outsider, because his opponent was the vice world champion in this discipline, American Alexander Massialas. And the Italians won as many as 4 gold medals in the discipline of shooting.

8. Korea

The total number of medals is 21: 9 gold, 3 silver and 9 bronze.

In the winter of 2018, the next Olympic Games will be held in Pyeongchang (a city in South Korea). The country's authorities have already promised to eliminate the language barrier that inevitably arises between participants in grandiose competitions. A number of scientific institutes and IT companies are already working on creating new programs for automatic translation.

7. France

There are 42 medals in total: 10 gold, 18 silver and 14 bronze.

For the first time since 1976, the French won in team dressage (equestrian sport). There is an interesting story connected with this victory: one of the finalists, Philippe Rosier, is the son of Marcel Rosier, who was an Olympic champion as a member of the French team in the same sport in 1976.

6. Japan

There are 41 awards in total: 12 gold, 8 silver and 21 bronze.

Japanese athletes took sixth place in the medal top 10. And Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike received the Olympic flag as the Japanese capital is set to host the 2020 Games.

5. Germany

There are 42 medals in total: 17 gold, 10 silver and 15 bronze.

Russia's longtime rivals in sports were unable to surpass our athletes in terms of the total number of medals. The highest awards were, in particular, won by canoeist Sebastian Brendel, in the 1000-meter single and double team, and kayakers Max Rendschmidt and Markus Gross, in the 1000-meter double and four-man competition.

4. Russia

There are 56 awards in total, of which 19 are gold, 18 are silver and 19 are bronze.

A very pleasant surprise was the gold medal of our handball players, who managed to beat the Norwegians, who were considered favorites, and in the final match they defeated the strongest team from France. This is the first gold for handball since the 1980 home Olympics. And the famous “mermaids” Natalya Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina carried the Russian banner at the closing of the Olympics.

3. China

There are 70 awards in total: 26 gold, 18 silver and 26 bronze.

For China, the Olympic Games in Rio were not without unpleasant surprises: the organizers of the games twice used their country's flag with incorrectly positioned stars. This happened at the awards ceremony for Chinese athletes, and then Chinese volleyball players.

2. UK

There are 67 medals in total: 27 gold, 23 silver and 17 bronze.

Residents of Foggy Albion turned out to be the strongest in triathlon (they took both gold and silver), at a distance of 5 thousand meters, rowing in the competitions of fours and eights, and in equestrian sports in an individual competition.

1. USA

A total of 121 medals: 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze

Team USA leads the top 10 on the 2016 Olympics medal list. At the same time, very strange concessions were made to American athletes. For example, the appeal jury allowed the US women's team to qualify for the 4 x 100 meter relay a second time. This decision was made after runner Allison Felix claimed that her opponent pushed her, causing Felix to be unable to pass the baton. There are already jokes circulating on the Internet about the topic “next time give all the gold to the Americans and let them go home.”

The 31st Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro will occupy a special place in history. After the era of boycotts that remained in the 80s of the last century, each subsequent games were bigger and better than the previous ones, but in Brazil they pulled the brakes slightly.

The country simply failed to hold two of the most ambitious sports summits in a row, two years apart - the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games. Internal problems emerged like grass through the asphalt.

However, even the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff is nothing compared to what could have happened with the games themselves.

A unique case when the Olympic truce was needed by the sports world, and not by the warring parties. IOC President Thomas Bach actually declared this truce twice, but the war did not end, it was simply postponed for a short time.

It launched the mechanism of self-destruction of the entire Olympic movement, but at the very last moment it was stopped, for now. One of the most successful commercial and civilizational projects in the world is still under threat. The struggle for its purity can lead to the death of the patient himself - and then it will be the cleanliness of the morgue.

Football is unthinkable without Brazil, hockey without Canada, and the Olympics without Russia. Every Rocky Balboa needs an Ivan Drago. The gold medals from the Moscow and Los Angeles Games were devalued without competition between the main geopolitical rivals, so keeping our team at the games was as important to the IOC as it was to Russia. It is difficult to say how it would have ended if the blow struck against Russia had not rebounded on the IOC.

Paradoxical as it may seem, while destroying Russia’s sporting reputation, WADA, in alliance with the world’s media, did exactly the same thing with the authority of the IOC, and with its own, although this does not bother doping fighters at all. All these large-scale alleged scams, which were reported by the head of the independent commission, Richard McLaren, are, first of all, a deafening failure of this very organization, which was unable to ensure the doping control process at the Olympic Games in Sochi.

It was WADA that signed a contract with a company that made invulnerable containers that supposedly could be opened, it was WADA that took over the room with holes in the wall, and WADA did not control who had access to this room and when. This is quite enough for him to resign, but the ranks of this chamber of inquisitors do not even think about it, moreover, they continue to make political statements, not without a share of narcissism and intoxication with their own role.

Judging by individual statements by authoritative members of the IOC, this is beginning to irritate thoroughly, especially since responsibility for the final product still lies with the IOC. If the revelations, disqualifications and trials do not stop, then the show itself will lose its meaning. No matter how cynical it sounds, competition organizers sell emotions and involvement in victory, and if the world is convinced that success is impossible without cheating, then who will pay for this surrogate?

WADA’s attack on Russian sports would have been impossible without support in the media. It was a well-established process according to a clear pattern - “stuffing - commission - sanctions - reaction in the press...”

As soon as the information trail from the next stuffing died down, a new one followed. For a year and a half, almost every day, the entire planet read, heard and watched opuses about how Russian athletes cheat and deceive. One of the main whistleblowers, German television journalist Hajo Seppelt, stretched out his epic over several episodes. With each new one there were fewer and fewer sensations, and more and more doubts about the veracity of the material, but the effect continued to work.

You can be ironic about the conspiracy theory as much as you like, but Seppelt somehow knows what is written in the addenda to the famous McLaren report, while WADA refused to provide additional information to IOC President Thomas Bach with the astonishing comment “It’s not the time yet.” The time will undoubtedly come, since the process in this case is more important than the result and it is far from finished. We expect clarifications to the report, additions to clarifications, and clarifications to additions, with inevitable continuation on screens and pages.

The goal of this informational Hiroshima has been partially achieved. People were convinced that collective responsibility is the norm, an athlete who has already served his disqualification should not participate in the Olympics, and the holder of a passport of a certain country must prove that he is not guilty, and in general it is better if he leaves his country and throws away this passport.

Of course, it was not possible to turn Russian athletes into despised outcasts, but sometimes a cool attitude was encountered. However, our team has found the best answer to various commissions and whistleblowers. Deprived of hundreds of elite athletes, under total control and in a zero-tolerance regime, the Russian team achieved a brilliant result, comparable to what was shown in Beijing and London.

This means that our athletes can and do win without any substitution of samples or cocktails of steroids and alcohol.

On the penultimate day at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Russian team won five medals, four of which were gold. This allowed the Russian team to move to fourth place in the unofficial medal standings, practically guaranteeing this position at the end of the competition.

2016 Olympics in Rio: Russian handball players became Olympic champions.

The women's handball team defeated the French in the Olympic tournament with a score of 22:19.

Let us note that Evgeniy Trefilov’s team did not suffer a single defeat at the Olympic tournament, and in the dramatic semi-final match they beat the reigning Olympic champions, the Norwegians, who had not lost for eight years.

Literally half an hour after the final whistle in handball, it became known that Russia would have two more golds - in rhythmic gymnastics and wrestling.

Olympics in Rio: Abdulrashid Sadulayev became the Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling in the weight category up to 86 kg. The two-time world champion confidently reached the final, allowing his opponents to score only one point in three fights. In the final bout, Abdulrashid defeated Selim Yashar from Turkey with a score of 5:0.

Bronze was won by Azerbaijani Sharif Sharifov, who lost to the Russian in the semifinals, and American Jayden Cox.

2016 Olympics in Rio: gymnast Mamun won Olympic gold in the individual all-around, Yana Kudryavtseva won silver.

In the individual all-around rhythmic gymnastics competition, the Russians performed so well that even before the end of the competition they guaranteed themselves medals, standing for their rivals. Based on the results of four types of the program, Mamun scored 76.483 points. Yana Kudryavtseva scored 75.608. Ukrainian gymnast Anna Rizatdinova (73.583) received bronze.

Russia has been undefeated in the individual all-around in rhythmic gymnastics since 2000. All that remains now is to defend the champion title in the group competition.

Photo: Official website of the Rio Olympics

Olympic Games 2016. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rhythmic gymnastics. Women. Personal all-around

1. Margarita Mamun (Russia) - 76,483

2. Yana Kudryavtseva (Russia) - 75,608

3. Anna Rizatdinova (Ukraine) - 73,583.

Photo: Official website of the Rio Olympics

Literally another couple of minutes passed, and the Russian team’s piggy bank was replenished with another gold medal - won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the pentathlon competition. Based on the sum of all types of the program, he scored 1479 points.

Silver went to Ukrainian Pavel Timoschenko (1472 points). Bronze - Mexican Ismael Marcelo Hernandez Uscanga (1468).

Photo: Official website of the Rio Games

According to the results of the penultimate day of the competition, the Russian team rose and strengthened its position in fourth position in the medal standings, with 53 medals in its assets - 17 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze. The USA is still in the lead with 116 medals (43-37-36). Next come the UK - 66 (27-22-17) and China - 70 (26-18-26).

The last competitive day of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro has ended. At the end of 16 days, the US team won the most gold medals (46). The Americans also became the best in terms of the total number of awards (121).

The 2016 Olympics are the first Olympic Games to be held in South America and the second in Latin America after the 1968 Games in Mexico. In Rio 2016, more than three hundred sets of medals were awarded and 207 countries took part. Teams from as far away as Kosovo and the newly formed South Sudan came to the Olympics.

The medal standings are a summary table of all awarded medals and do not have official status. For first place in the Olympic Games medal table, the winning team does not receive any reward. At the end of the 2016 Olympic Games, the medals of all countries were counted, and the teams were arranged in the table by the number of gold medals, then silver, then bronze.

The USA took first place in the overall standings: the Americans were almost twice as ahead of their closest competitors. Second is Great Britain (27 gold and 67 in total), third is China (26 and 70), fourth is Russia (19 and 56), fifth is Germany (17 and 42).

The top 10 also included Japan, France, South Korea, Italy and Australia. The hosts of the Games, the Brazilians, collected 19 medals (7 gold).

In total, medals at the 2016 Olympics were won by representatives of 87 countries (Latvia is not among them). Athletes from 59 countries took at least one gold, and 21 teams won one medal.

Rio 2016

Medal classification (total - gold-silver-bronze). Bottom line

1. USA - 121 (46-37-38)
2. Great Britain - 67 (27-23-17)
3. China - 70 (26-18-26)
4. Russia - 56 (19-18-19)
5. Germany - 42 (10-17-15)
6. Japan - 41 (12-8-21)
7. France - 42 (10-18-14)
8. South Korea - 21 (9-3-9)
9. Italy - 28 (8-12-8)
10. Australia - 29 (8-11-10)

11. Holland - 19 (8-7-4)
12. Hungary - 15 (8-3-4)
13. Brazil - 19 (7-6-6)
14. Spain - 17 (7-4-6)
15. Kenya - 13 (6-6-1)
16. Jamaica - 11 (6-3-2)
17. Croatia - 10 (5-3-2)
18. Cuba - 11 (5-2-4)
19. New Zealand - 18 (4-9-5)
20. Canada - 22 (4-3-15)

21. Uzbekistan - 13 (4-2-7)
22. Kazakhstan - 17 (3-5-9)
23. Colombia - 8 (3-2-3)
24. Switzerland -7 (3-2-2)
25. Iran - 8 (3-1-4)
26. Greece - 6 (3-1-2)
27. Argentina - 4 (3-1-0)
28. Denmark - 15 (2-6-7)
29. Sweden - 11 (2-6-3)
30. South Africa - 10 (2-6-2)

31. Ukraine - 11 (2-5-4)
32. Serbia - 8 (2-4-2)
33. Poland - 11 (2-3-6)
34. DPRK - 7 (2-3-2)
35. Belgium - 6 (2-2-2)
36. Thailand - 6 (2-2-2)
37. Slovakia - 4 (2-2-0)
38. Georgia - 7 (2-1-4)
39. Azerbaijan - 18 (1-7-10)
40. Belarus - 9 (1-4-4)

41. Türkiye - 8 (1-3-4)
42. Armenia - 4 (1-3-0)
43. Czech Republic - 10 (1-2-7)
44. Ethiopia - 8 (1-2-5)
45. Slovenia - 4 (1-2-1)
46. ​​Indonesia - 3 (1-2-0)
47. Romania - 5 (1-1-3)
48. Bahrain - 2 (1-1-0)
49. Vietnam - 2 (1-1-0)
50. Taiwan - 3 (1-0-2)

51. Bahamas - 2 (1-0-1)
52. Cote d'Ivoire - 2 (1-0-1)
53. INDEPENDENT ATHLETES – 2 (1-0-1)
54. Jordan - 1 (1-0-0)
55. Kosovo - 1 (1-0-0)
56. Puerto Rico - 1 (1-0-0)
57. Singapore - 1 (1-0-0)
58. Tajikistan - 1 (1-0-0)
59. Fiji - 1 (1-0-0)

60. Malaysia - 5 (0-4-1)
61. Mexico - 5 (0-3-2)
62. Algeria - 2 (0-2-0)
63. Ireland - 2 (0-2-0)
64. Lithuania - 4 (0-1-3)
65. Bulgaria - 3 (0-1-2)
66. Venezuela - 3 (0-1-2)
67. India - 2 (0-1-1)
68. Mongolia - 2 (0-1-1)
69. Burundi - 1 (0-1-0)
70. Grenada - 1 (0-1-0)
71. Qatar - 1 (0-1-0)
72. Niger - 1 (0-1-0)
73. Philippines - 1 (0-1-0)

74. Norway - 4 (0-0-4)
75. Egypt - 3 (0-0-3)
76. Tunisia - 3 (0-0-3)
77. Israel - 2 (0-0-2)
78. Austria - 1 (0-0-1)
79. Dominican Republic - 1 (0-0-1)
80. Morocco - 1 (0-0-1)
81. Moldova - 1 (0-0-1)
82. Nigeria - 1 (0-0-1)
83. UAE - 1 (0-0-1)
84. Portugal - 1 (0-0-1)
85. Trinidad and Tobago - 1 (0-0-1)
86. Finland - 1 (0-0-1)
87. Estonia - 1 (0-0-1)