Russia
in Sports
Russians
have been successful at a number of sports and continuously finishing
in the top rankings at the Olympic Games. During the Soviet era, the
national team placed first in the total number of medals won at 14 of
its 18 appearances; with these performances, the USSR was the dominant
Olympic power of its era. Since the 1952 Olympic Games, Soviet and later
Russian athletes have always been in the top three for the number of
gold medals collected at the Summer Olympics. The 1980 Summer Olympic
Games were held in Moscow while the 2014 Winter Olympics will be hosted
by Sochi.
Soviet
gymnasts, track-and-field athletes, weight lifters, wrestlers, cross
country skiers, and boxers were consistently among the best in the world.
Even since the collapse of the Soviet empire, Russian athletes have
continued to dominate international competition in these areas. Although
ice hockey was only introduced during the Soviet era, the national team
soon dominated the sport internationally, winning gold at almost all
the Olympics and World Championships they contested, most recently in
the 2008 World Championships.
Figure
skating is another very popular sport; in the 1960s, the Soviet Union
rose to become a dominant power in figure skating, especially in pair
skating and ice dancing. At every Winter Olympics from 1964 until the
present day, a Soviet or Russian pair has won gold, often considered
the longest winning streak in modern sports history. Since the end of
the Soviet era, tennis has grown in popularity and Russia has produced
a number of famous tennis players. Chess is a widely popular pastime;
from 1927, Soviet and Russian chess grandmasters have held the world
championship almost continuously.
Source:
Wikipedia