Word: russian
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...Nemov's gold set Russians' expectations high for Svetlana Khorkina on the next night when the women were to compete for the all-around title. If they couldn't have the team golds, at least they had a crack at putting two Russians in the two top individual slots. But no. Svetlana shot over the vault and landed with a thump, shattering her mental preparation just before she went to the bars where, yet again, she wound up on the floor. She walked out of the gym and it seemed for moment that finding herself in 18th place...
...Svetlana hadn't fallen on the vault, would she have made the error on the bars? "She was obviously handicapped on the vault," said U.S. team coordinator Bela Karolyi. "That's what started her downfall because when your confidence is shaken, you are open to another mistake." Added Russian team official Valeri Dianov: "She was emotionally depressed after that. We expected her to be Olympic champion. This is the worst performance the Russian team has ever had at the Olympics." Knowing she'd need an impossibly high score to take even a bronze medal, Svetlana chose not to redo...
...considering the Dutchman's stellar opponents. In winning the blue-ribbon sprint title, Van den Hoogenband ended the reign of Alexander Popov, who was trying to win his third straight Olympic 100-m freestyle gold. "It's not the end of the world, obviously," said the 28-year-old Russian, undefeated over the distance for seven years before the Dutchman beat him last year in Istanbul. "I have already got plenty of medals. I can't win everything. I have to share...
...long been a force in the pool. Four years ago, European nations won 11 gold and a total of 38 medals; this time Europe secured 14 gold, 36 medals in total. The shift among countries around the world is more interesting: Past powers such as Hungary, Germany, the Russian Federation, Canada and Brazil have been replaced by newcomers Italy, Romania, Ukraine and Sweden. China did not win a swimming medal at these Games. Hinting at one reason for their success, Romania's Mocanu and Ukraine's Klochkova spoke of the lack of public pressure on athletes from countries where swimming...
...against Soviet tanks. Twenty-two years later, those streets are once again filled with idealistic young people, but this time the target of their ire is not communism, but global capitalism. The spectacle of demonstrators on the streets brandishing the same hammer-and-sickle logo that had adorned those Russian tanks must look a little bizarre to a Czech population who suffered four decades of the repression, deprivation and tragicomic absurdity of communism; indeed, the standoff between leftist demonstrators and the World Bank and IMF whose summit they're trying to disrupt may be a little farcical...