Russians will miss another medal haul at L.A.

Press, 11 May 1984, Page 28

Russians will miss another medal haul at L.A.

NZPA-AP New York Soviet athletes have dominated the past three summer Olympics and their absence in Los Angeles will dramatically change the texture of the 1984 Games. It is expected to result in a large medals harvest for the United States. The Soviet Union was the medals champion at the last three summer Olympics. With the United States and 81 other countries boycotting the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, the Soviet Union had an easy time at those Games, winning 80 gold medals, 69 silver medals and 46 bronze.

The 80 gold medals compared with their 49 in 1976

and 50 in 1972 when both the United States and the Soviets competed.

It is safe to conclude that the Soviets would have done very well in Los Angeles, with particular strengths in track and field, swimming, basketball, wrestling, weightlifting, rowing, shooting, and gymnastics.

The Soviets were also expected to do well in water polo, volleyball, handball, cycling and some of the other less dominant sports. A look at the major Olympic events and the Soviet strength reveals.— • SWIMMING: Vladimir Salnikov would have been the overwhelming favourite to win two gold medals in

his world-record specialities, the 400 and 1500-metre freestyles. His main competition in the 1500 might have been his team-mate, Sviatoslav Semenov, who was ranked second in the world last year. In diving, the 1980 Olympics platform gold medallist, Alexander Portov, had been expected to renew his rivalry with the American, Greg Louganis, who easily defeated Portov in the 1982 World Championships in Ecuador.

® TRACK and FIELD: The Soviets would have dominated the hammer throw, pole vault and high jump, according to Tom Tellez, the United States

Olympic coach for high jumpers, triple jumpers, long jumpers and pole vaulters. The Soviets won six gold medals at the World Championships in Helsinki — in the men’s 1500 m relay, the high jump (Gennadiy Avdeyenko), the pole vault (Sergey Bubka) and the hammer throw (Sergey Litvinov), in the women's 400 m intermediate hurdles (Yekaterina Fesenko) and the high jump (Tamara Bykova). © WEIGHTLIFTING: The Soviets have dominated weightlifting for 20 years. In Moscow in 1980, the Soviets won eight gold medals, and last year in the World Championships, they

won a whopping 30 medals. The 1984 U.S.S.R. contingent was expected to have been led by Yurik Vardaniani, the 1980 gold medallist and five-times world champion. • BASKETBALL: The Soviet women’s basketball team is the defending Olympic champion, and would be expected to do as well in 1984. The Soviet men are led by the 2.18 m tall Arvidas Sabonis, considered by many experts as the single greatest talent ever produced in European basketball. © WRESTLING: In freestyle, the Soviets have five favourites for gold medals,

including Kosaminkov, heavyweight; Anatoly Zelaglazov, 57kg; Stephen Sarkisyan, 62kg; Mikhail Kharachura, 68kg and the 1980 Olympic champion, Sansar Oganesyan, 90kg. In Greco-Roman, five Soviets won world championship titles in Kiev last September and would certainly be contenders for medals in the 1984 Olympics. © ROWING: “We may well have been handed a gold medal,” said Katherine Reith of the United States Rowing Association. She was talking about the United States chances in women’s rowing, which has

been dominated by the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. ® BOXING: The Soviets would have been well in contention, along with the United States and Cuba. • GYMNASTICS: The reigning world over-all champions both the men’s and women’s ’’visions are from the Soviet don. Dimitri Belozerchev . he men’s over-all Utfe.Ji November in Indianapoli. Indiana, being placed first in the pommel horse and" the rings, and finishing second in the floor exercise. Natalia Yurchenko was the women’s over-all champion.