2010 Winter Olympics: Russian Newspaper Attacks Canada

If you haven't heard by now, Russian newspaper Pravda has been making some pretty big comments about the Olympic games and the way Canada hosted it in general.

No, no, these were not comments on the poor weather conditions that threatened to hamper the events at Whistler. Nor were they words on the Aboriginal protests that took place leading up to and during the games. They didn't even take the normal approach when downplaying the games by commenting on the safety issues that led to the death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.

Sure, Canadians were taken aback with the bashful articles coming from British newspapers—especially those in London—where the Summer Games in 2012 are set to take place. But even those comments, such as the one on the front page of The Guardian that called Vancouver, "the worst games ever," could not match what the former Soviet paper would go on to say.

Now, I understand that the stories in question were written for a column, not as a piece of hard news, but some standards must still be called into question with the allegations given in this piece.

In one column, the paper says, "Doesn’t it feel great to slam the door behind you as you walk out, stick up the middle finger using the palm of the left hand on the upper right forearm for extra leverage, and blow a giant raspberry?" 

Wow. Well, everyone is entitled to freedom of speech, and really it's not much different from an earlier rant which called Canadians "cowards," and discussed how Canada lives in the shadow to its neighbour to the south, which is the cause for "the utter incapacity of this county to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to a beefy United States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom."

And while this may (and arguably should) have Canadians upset, it's still just a matter of opinion. Yet, these could all be considered arguments from the papers, and not allegations as I outlined.

Well, prepare for this one.

In the column, the paper asks the question about the Canadian men's hockey team, "Were they on drugs they day they beat Russia so overwhelmingly?" Nothing says sour grapes like claiming the opposition was using performance-enhancing drugs because apparently Canada's domination over the Russians was just too much to handle.

"Canada-Russia ice hockey games are always very closely fought events and there has not been such a monumental difference between the two sides."

It then goes on to essentially say the Canadians' win over Slovakia further proves that they must have been on something to beat Russia, despite the fact that the Slovaks took out the defending Olympic champions in the quarterfinals. And, oh yeah, the same "lowly Slovakia," as the article describes them, beat Russia in the round robin.

But not only were the Canadians on drugs, but the article suggests that we also just went out and exempted ourselves from taking drug tests. 

Still, better yet, is the idea that Canadians were drugging the Russians to ensure that they didn't claim the podium. 

"And such was the hounding of the Russian athletes that there are rumours many refused to eat for fear their food would be laced with steroids.”

Along with these, the paper complained about typical Russian accusations following every Olympics. A skier was forced to take a "shockingly humiliating" drug test between the quarterfinal and semifinal race. The judges were biased in giving Evan Lysacekv the gold medal in men's figure skating over the "superior" Evgeni Plushenko.

Lastly, the paper asks the question, "It is a surprise that any Russian athlete would wish to remain in that sort of environment for a second longer."

Well, Russia, you've made your point. The pressure will be on for Sochi 2014. Oh, but have no fear, they won't give Canadians the same treatment.

But luckily that feeling is not widespread. The U.S. (maybe surprisingly) commended us on the event, and called into question what the successes will be of the games in Russia.

"[Canada] made itself known. Here's betting that, come 2014, it will be missed," said S.L. Price, writer for Sports Illustrated .

In an event that is supposed to celebrate the pride of sport and athletes, these comments from the Russian paper are completely out of line and go against everything that the Olympics stand for.

One thing's for sure now, Sochi will have to be amazing, or Pravda will have to eat their words.