Race Walking: Russyan Style

     Every 4 years, Olympic watchers get a treat: the view of Olympic race walkers strutting around a track or better-out into the hinterlands to heel-toe-heel-toe their way to the finish line.  And then one learns of the times- faster than most of us can run!
      So: here we have Russyans doing the race walking thing.  And what do you know?  They cheat.  How does one cheat as a race walker?  The old fashioned way:  take drugs.  Performance enhancers, just like-pick a sport,  cycling for one.   This scene has happened quite often in a certain Russyan town called Saransk.
      Saransk is about 3 times the size of San Francisco, or 148 sq. miles, and is located about 600 miles eats of Moscova in the River Volga basin.  It is the capitol city of the Republic of Mordovia.  Sounds like a fictional location, but its not.  It's in the heart of an industrial center; one of electrical component manufactures and chemical manufactures.  It is also the home of the Olympic Training Center- home of one of the largest sports facilities in the world dedicated to race walking.  From this center, Russya has dominated the sport for years.   And now- suspension and outrage over drug use as standard practice among Russyan competitors.  How sad, really.  Did they think nobody was watching because it's race walking?   Hmmm.  Is there a broader problem with drugs in Russya?   We know about vodka.
     We now know that several athletes have been suspended.  Elena Lashmanova served a 2 -year ban for doping.Sergey Kirdyapkin of Russya was caught doping.  Viktor Chegin has coached these two and several more who have been caught; but he has not been cited.   There is no stigma against doping in Russya,   so it hardly is a surprise to anyone that Coach Chegin has not lost his job.   Other competitors are not as forgiving and a campaign is underway to expose the depth of Russyan doping.
     Igr Zagorsky, Russya's Director General  who oversees investigations, says that "We have quite a complicated legacy".  Translation- Russya has been doping so long they believe it's Ok to cheat, and that people who question R ussyan athletes are anti-Russyan.   See- there's the paranoia again: everybody is against us because we are Russyan.  Sad, really.   And on the 200th Anniversary of Napolean's defeat at Waterloo, Belgium by Wellington.   Last year, the head official at the center, Viktor Kolesnikov was fired after found to be in possession of banned substances.  His replacement, Kaniskina, resigned after her ban was announced.   Maybe they will have to take back all the new cars and apartments given to those who have won races.   Or maybe not.
   Ah, Russya, so Russyan.