Olympics: the former USSR has not won anything except Latvia's silver. But there are many scandals 0 11

The observer writes:

In the morning, I looked at the overall medal table and rubbed my eyes. I have never seen anything like this. And it could never have happened before.

The Russian team at the halfway point of the Games – 0 medals. Ukraine – 0 medals. Any former Soviet republic – 0 medals.

This has not happened since 1956, when the USSR team debuted at the Winter Games.

Of course, there are reasons. At least personnel-related: never before has Russia been so modestly represented at the Games. 13 people, and not all of them are the strongest.

But that’s another story; I’m not touching on politics. I’m just writing about what I see. That’s the kind of akyn I am...

So far at the Games, the former Soviet republics, if they have distinguished themselves at all, have not done so in the sporting aspect.

The story of Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladislav Geraskovich took an unexpected turn. The IOC allowed him to wear a helmet with portraits of Ukrainian athletes who died in the war at all Olympic locations. Except for the main location – the sports venue where the competitions are taking place.

The logic is unclear.

Earlier, the flag bearer of the Moldovan team at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Olympics in Italy, 18-year-old Elizaveta Khlusovich, was suspected of pro-Russian sentiments.

Moldovan social media users allegedly discovered Khlusovich's profile on the social network "VKontakte." There, in the list of groups, they found several pages whose members support Russia's policies regarding Ukraine.

The Russian publication "Championat" claims that after this information was published, the profile of the Moldovan skier was completely altered. Even the account name was changed. All pages related to Russia disappeared from the list of subscriptions. Elizaveta Khlusovich was born in Russia. Her mother, Natalia Levchenkova, previously represented Moldova in biathlon.

On the first day of the Games, it became known that the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Azerbaijan filed a protest with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the musical accompaniment of the short program of Armenian figure skaters Karina Akopova and Nikita Rahmanin. They prepared a performance to the instrumental composition "Artsakh" by Armenian author Ara Gevorgyan. The NOC of Azerbaijan stated that the term "Artsakh" reflects "the ideological essence of illegal and separatist policies." According to Baku, its use at a sporting event "clearly has political and ideological significance" and contradicts Olympic values.

Later, the Armenian figure skaters changed the name of the music for their short program from "Artsakh" to "Music of Ara Gevorkyan."