The perks of being a Russian athlete.
With Russia finishing fourth in the overall medal count at the Rio Olympics with a total of 56 – 19 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze – the focus really should be on their athletic achievements but as always, some of their medals (like those of other countries) have been steeped in controversy.
It’s obvious that the focus of the Irish public will be on the Russians, especially considering the revealing interview that Patrick Barnes (Paddy Barnes’ father) gave to JOE reporter Joe Harrington where he claimed that the Russian camp already knew the result of Michael Conlan’s bantamweight bout against Vladimir Nikitin before the bell even rang.
Barnes said, “we knew coming here this morning, the Russians told us that Michael wasn’t going to get the contest. They told us that themselves. And we knew”.
Allegations of corruption also surround Evgeny Tischenko’s gold medal after he was given a unanimous decision win over Vassilly Levit of Kazakhstan in the men’s heavyweight gold medal match, despite the fact that the Kazakh dominated the fight.
While the Olympic Games (for the large part) remain an amateur event, it’s reported that Russia will award each of its medallists a BMW car and at least 1.7 million roubles (slightly above €230,000).
Gold medal winners will get 4 million roubles and a BMW X6, silver medallists will receive 2.5 million roubles and a BMW X5, and bronze medallists will get 1.7 million roubles and a BMW X3.
Vladimir Putin met with Russia’s Olympic medallists at the Kremlin this afternoon.
