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Russia Debates Cause of Poor Performance in Olympic Games VOA Sports 26 Feb 2002 20:55 UTC 
Russia's Olympic bosses looked set Tuesday to emerge as scapegoats for the national team's poor performance at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
The government's deputy chief of staff, Alexey Volin, praised Russia's athletes for competing right up to Sunday's closing ceremony, but he criticized the bureaucrats for lack of preparation and for failing to counter alleged biased judging.
Many Russians reacted with anger after a series of controversial decisions against Russian athletes contributed to the unusually low medal toll. Russia came in fourth in the final table, with only six golds.
Russian newspapers continued to vent their anger Tuesday at what they described as the return of "Cold War" attitudes in sports and arguing that the United States was attempting a takeover of the Olympic Games.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.
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