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Olympic diary: Switzerland takes lead in gold medal count on 4th day of Olympics, Russia's 'medal drought' continues

© RIA Novosti . Ilya Pitalev / Go to the mediabankDario Cologna
Dario Cologna  - Sputnik International
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The Swiss national team took the lead in the gold medal count on the forth day of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, securing two victories.

The Swiss national team took the lead in the gold medal count on the forth day of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, securing two victories.

Russia's hopes for its figure skaters were not justified, leaving the country without an expected gold, which was won by China. Russian cross country skiers also put in a poor performance.

Meanwhile, Stanley Cup winner Yevgeny Malkin said the Russian ice hockey team is hungry for Olympic gold in Vancouver and is set to get it.

The U.S. leads the overall medal standings with eight, followed by Germany with five.

Switzerland enjoys gold

Switzerland secured two gold medals on the 4th day of Vancouver Olympics. The first was won by Didier Defago, who came first in the Men's Downhill on Monday with a winning time of 1:54.31. Dario Cologna secured another medal in 15 km free style Cross Country, finishing almost half a minute ahead of his closest contender. It took him 33 minutes 33.6 seconds to cover the distance.

China destroys Russia's hopes in Figure Skating pairs

Two Chinese pairs took the first two places in Figure Skating pairs at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Canada.

Xue Shen and Hogbo Zhao confidently won their gold medal after taking the first place in the short program on Sunday and the first place in free skating on Monday, garnering 216.57 points in aggregate.

Their fellow countrymen Qing Pang and Jian Tong took the silver with 213.31 points and the German pair Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won bronze with 210.60 points.

Russian couple Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov finished in fourth place with 194.77 points as their performance saw several errors.

"Psychology" prevents Russian skiers from winning medals

Russians pinned great hopes on its skiers at the Olympics in Canada, but on Monday the best results were 7th place in the women's 10 km free style Cross Country (Yevgeniya Medvedeva) and 9th place in the men's 15 km free style Cross Country (Maxim Vylegzhanin).

Russia's skiing head coach blamed his team's failure for "psychological" reasons.

"They have not simply tuned in. We have nothing to complain about... It is all about us - coaches and athletes," Yury Charkovsky said.

Russian skier Sergei Shiryaev said he was displeased with the behavior of doping officials, who woke up his teammates at six in the morning for blood tests, which was also a reason for the Russian team's poor performance.

Sweden's Charlotte Kalla took the gold, Estonia's Kristina Smigun-Vaehi took the silver and Norway's Marit Bjoergen took the bronze medals on Monday in women's 10 km cross.

Vancouver gold in men's Snowboard Cross goes to U.S.

Seth Wescott brought the United States its second Olympic Games gold medal after winning the men's Snowboard Cross competition in Canada.

The American was the fastest in the Big Final on the track at the Cypress Mountain leaving behind Canadian snowboarder Mike Robertson with the silver medal and Tony Ramoin of France with the bronze.

Russian hockey team hungry for Olympic gold

Stanley Cup winner Yevgeny Malkin said the Russian ice hockey team is hungry for Olympic gold in Vancouver and is set to get it.

"There are not many Olympic champions in our team and everyone is hungry for this gold and set to win nothing else but this gold," the Russian forward, who also plays for NHL Pittsburg Penguins, said.

The Russian 2010 national Olympic hockey team will play its first game of the tournament against Latvia on February 16.

With Russia clinching 2008 and 2009 world titles playing both times in the final games against Canada, many hockey fans and experts hope that the teams will meet again in the final of the 2010 Olympics.

Team medal count at 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Country Gold Silver Bronze Overall

1. Switzerland 3 0 0 (3)

2. U.S.A. 2 2 4 (8)

3. Korea 2 1 0 (3)

4. France 2 0 2 (4)

5. Germany 1 3 1 (5)

6. Canada 1 2 1 (4)

18. Russia 0 0 1 (1)

MOSCOW, February 16 (RIA Novosti)

 

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