 |
| Russian teenager Alina Zagitova edged compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva with a stunning free skate that earned the Olympic Athletes from Russia a first gold at the Pyeongchang Games |
It had taken until two days before the end of the Winter Olympics, but hundreds of Russian fans roared in celebration when 15-year-old figure skater Alina Zagitova delivered their teamโs first gold medal on Friday.
For fans who had travelled from across the vast country, the Russian one-two, with Evgenia Medvedeva taking the silver, was the highlight of an Olympics where many believe their countrymen have suffered injustice and even humiliation.
โWe were so rooting for Alinochka and Zheniechka,โ enthused a woman named Yulia from the Kuzbass region of Siberia, using affectionate diminutive forms of the two skatersโ names.
โThey were brilliant, they didnโt let us down. First and second place: itโs super, itโs a dream.โ
Her husband Vyacheslav was celebrating too, but with reservations.
โWe were waiting a very long time and we were punished unfairly,โ he said, reeling off the names of top stars who were barred from coming to South Korea.
The exclusions were the result of investigations by the International Olympic Committee that found Russia had run a huge state-sponsored doping programme when it hosted the Winter Games in 2014.
Russia denies systematic cheating but says it is cleaning up its act, arguing that doping is a much wider international problem.
As a further punishment, Russians competing in South Korea have been designated as neutral โOlympic Athletes from Russiaโ and barred from using their own flag or anthem.
But that did not constrain the supporters who held up dozens of huge Russian tricolours all round the Gangneung Ice Arena before and after Zagitova and Medvedeva had skated.
โBrilliant, we waited for this. We were hopeful, we had two great girls but we didnโt know who would be first. We were just nervous about which of them would get gold,โ said Pyotr Afanaskov from Vladivostok, wearing a hat with the slogan โRussia in my heartโ.
โI feel a bit sorry for (Medvedeva), of course, but thatโs sport.โ
The doping controversy and its consequences have been deeply felt by many Russians, with their country having always excelled at the Olympics and sport being used as a source of pride and prestige.
โOf course all the Russian fans are delighted, especially as it came in clean competition,โ said Sergei Vinogradov from St Petersburg after watching the finale of the figure skating.
Yet almost in the same breath, he added: โOf course for Russians itโs very unpleasant one country was singled out and treated like thatโฆ We all feel that itโs not fair.โ
For Viktor Ivchenko of Vladivostok, the ban on playing the national anthem was โa violation and a kind of insultโ.
But, along with several others interviewed, he was hopeful that Russia would be back at the next Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 as a full participant.
โI think there is a kind of justice and reason that will triumph,โ he said.
