Russian chief quits over Olympic flop

 MOSCOW – The president of the Russian cross-country skiing federation resigned Monday after the country’s Olympic flop at last month’s Winter Games in Vancouver.

Vladimir Loginov becomes the third high-ranking sports official to depart following Russia’s worst Winter Olympic performance, winning only three golds out of a 15-medal haul.

Loginov said in a statement that the four cross-country medals Russia won in Vancouver “are not sufficient for the authority of Russian skiing sports.”

“The work we have done over the years to develop skiing, to prepare the Russian Olympic team, unfortunately, has not given us the chance to achieve leading positions in ski races during this Olympic season,” Loginov said.

Days after the games ended, President Dmitry Medvedev urged for heads to roll after Russia finished 11th in the gold count and sixth overall.

He lambasted sports chiefs as “fat cats” who do too little to allow significant federal funding to trickle down to the grassroots, and called for those who participate in the respective sports to head the federations.

Russian Olympic Committee president Leonid Tyagachev and deputy sports minister Gennady Alyoshin have since left their posts. (AP)