(August 16)

(The author, vice-president of Sports Forum Weekly)

Nastia Liukin was like a pretty swan, flying gracefully from the balance beam to the uneven bars and the floor exercise in her successful bid to become Olympic champion.

Watching her performance during the women's individual all-around competition, you couldn't help but think of Svetlana Khorkina. They are astonishingly similar.

Liukin, like Khorkina who retired in 2004, performed so effortlessly you could almost forget you were watching something the magnitude of an Olympics final.

But what is the difference between them? One American said, “The only difference is their nationality.”

United States' Nastia Liukin competes in the women's floor final of the artistic gymnastics event of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing on August 17, 2008. [Agencies]

The 19-year-old Liukin could have been like her father, Valeri Liukin, and added to the tally of the former Soviet Union with her gold medal. However, she left Russia for the US with her parents when she was young and she's now one of the US's best gymnasts.

The Beijing Olympics is over half way now, but the Russian delegation's campaign is still to gain any momentum.

By August 15, Russia was languishing in eighth place, far behind China and the US, with three gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. Even a gargantuan effort in the later events will not be enough for Russia to catch up.

In the first half of the Beijing Olympics, the country received almost nothing in the events it traditionally dominated, particularly in the gymnastics group and individual all-around competitions. Russia did not even claim one medal. The once overwhelmingly strong gymnastics power seems to have disappeared suddenly.

United States' Nastia Liukin competes during the women's floor final of the artistic gymnastics event of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing on August 17, 2008. [Agencies]

Shooting and swimming also used to be strong events for Russia, but up till now they have only bagged two silver and two bronze medals in shooting and one silver and two bronze medals in swimming.

The country now depends on performances in athletics for big wins but even they won't make a big difference overall.

The Russian government invests more in professional sports such as football and basketball and this may promote the development of professional leagues, but adds nothing to the Olympic gold table.

So for now, at least, it seems an Olympic giant is leaving the world stage.

http://yanqiangblog.blog.sohu.com/97376975.html

PS, By August 18, Russia got seven gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze medals.