None of the Russian pairs were able to grab a medal in figure skating at the Vancouver Olympics due to lack of control, Olympic champion Anton Sikharulidze said on Tuesday.
Russia's main contenders for the medals - European 2010 champions Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov - finished in fourth place on Monday with 194.77 points.
Russia's second pair Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov took seventh place, and Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov came 11th.
"The figure skating pairs tournament was very unusual. I have not seen such a poor performance at the Olympic Games for years," Sikharulidze told RIA Novosti. "Each pair performed very badly in the free program yesterday, especially the leaders with the exception of one Chinese pair."
Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov still had a chance of making it into the top three after their short program but all hopes were crushed after they both crashed to the ice in their free program.
"It seems that in the end they failed to control their nerves and perform the required technical elements," he said. "And [coach] Tamara [Moskvina] had prepared rather difficult elements for them," adding that the Russian pair had lacked control and skill.
"Let's hope that they will go on training and performing and will be serious contenders for the gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi," he said.
When asked about Russia's lack of Olympic medals in Vancouver, Sikharulidze said that it was too early to draw any conclusions.
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.
MOSCOW, February 16 (RIA Novosti)
