President of Russian Olympic Committee forced to resign

THE president of Russia's Olympic Committee has resigned after strong condemnation following the country's worst performance at a Winter Olympics.

PUBLIC CONDEMNATION: Dmitry Medvedev is calling for resignations after Russia's poor
showing in Vancouver (Getty Images)

Russian news agencies reported Leonid Tyagachyov has stepped down following President Dmitry Medvedev's public criticisms of the nation's top sports officials after only picking up three gold medals at the Vancouver Games.

Russia's 11th position in the medals table is seen as an embarrassment to the country which is set to host the next Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2014.

Tyagachyov, who is a friend and skiing companion of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was seen as the driving force behind Russia's preparations for the 2014 Games.

Russian athletes suffered disappointment across the board in Canada with high profile casualties such as Evgeni Plushenko, who controversially could only capture silver in the figure skating, and the ice hockey team, who are the current world champions but were defeated by the home nation in the quarter finals.

After eight gold medals in Turin four years ago, all the headlines this time around seem to have been for the wrong reasons with International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge singling out Russia in his anti-doping campaign.

Medvedev announced earlier in the week that fat cat sports bureaucrats should quit or be fired because of the Vancouver fiasco.

Sports minister Vitaly Mutkov remains in his position but has stated that he is ready to step down if instructed.