JON COXETER-SMITH LOOKS AT RUSSIA’S RECENT SPORTING HISTORY AND THE WIDER IMPACTS OF RUSSIA’S UP AND COMING GOLDEN DECADE OF SPORT
sporting events the UK has been awarded or is bidding to host, during the 2010s – off the back of winning the bid to host this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. Looking east, Russia has now em-
T
barked on its own version of a golden decade. Through successful bidding the nation is building an enviable inter- national sports event portfolio and is currently busy preparing to host some of the greatest shows on earth. This new emphasis on developing a
sustainable sporting landscape is a rela- tively new concept for the nation, so how
EVENT
he UK’s sports industry has be- come very familiar with the term: a golden decade of sport – refer- ring to the many international
has Russia managed to assemble this event portfolio and what impact will it make on the nation’s sporting landscape and its people?
SETTING THE SCENE The 1990s and early 2000s was a difficult time for modern Russia. Dealing with the impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 naturally preoccupied the Kremlin government – particularly when the main economic priority was to get inflation under control. This, in turn, re- sulted in the country’s physical, social and sporting infrastructures being neglected and allowed to fall into disrepair. Saddled with a deteriorating sports in- frastructure, naturally the development
Figure 1: Russia’s Golden Decade YEAR
2013 2013 2014 2014 2015 2016
Russian athletes excel at international snow and ice events
2017 2018
IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Moscow 27th Summer Universiade, Kazan Winter Olympic Games, Sochi Russia Formula 1 Grand Prix, Sochi FINA World Championships, Kazan International Ice hockey Federation World Championships, Moscow & St Petersburg FIFA Confederations Cup FIFA World Cup™, Russia 2018
of Russian athletes and its sporting per- formance on the world stage began to decline too. The extent of the decline is illustrated by Russia’s performance at major international sports events as a country in its own right. While athletes competing under the Soviet Union flag won 132 medals at the 1988 Seoul Olym- pics, the ‘Russian’ national team won just 63 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and 72 at the 2008 Beijing Games. On snow and ice, where Russia expects
to excel, its decline in sporting prow- ess was also evidenced by its position on the medal table. A Soviet Union medal haul of 29 at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics fell to 13 medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games and the 15 medals won at the most recent Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver 2010 suggests im- provement has not yet taken root.
TURNING POINTS According to analysts, 2008 was identi- fied as an important milestone year for the country – one in which inflation fell to single digits. Similarly, on the field of play a significant victory was won that year. On 18 May, in the Pepsi Coli- seum in Quebéc, Canada, the Russian hockey team scored an overtime goal to defeat Canada 5 – 4 in the final of
36 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital Issue 1 2012 © cybertrek 2012
GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT
RUSSIA’S SPORTING LANDSCAPE
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