russia, have some backbone (source: the toronto star).

Russia whines about ‘cowardly’ Canada

February 25, 2010

CATHAL KELLythe toronto star

The next Winter Olympics is shaping up as a Cold War-style battle between Canada and Russia after a blistering editorial in Pravda labeled us as cowardly, incompetent and war criminals.

The editorial, entitled Vancouver: Mutton Dressed as Lamb, goes straight for the eyes from the outset. “Vancouver is not fit to hold the Winter Olympics,” it declares in the opening paragraph.

The screed is short on evidence about the games. Its main athletic complaint is about a short-notice drug test issued to Russian skier, Natalya Korosteleva. It neglects to mention that VANOC organizers have no input into the drug-testing regime of any particular sporting body.

It also impugns us for the decision to give the gold medal in men’s figure skating to American Evan Lysacek over Russian Evgeni Plushenko – as if we had some say in that, either.

The writer, Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey, seems mainly distressed by Canada’s political aims.

“We all know Canada has problems with the future lines drawn on Arctic maps and we all know Canada lives in the shadow of its larger neighbour to the south,” he writes about something we don’t all know.

Had he left it there, we might have shrugged it off. But then it gets personal.

“The abject cruelty shown by Canadian soldiers in international conflicts is scantily referred to, as indeed is the utter incapacity of this county to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to a beefy United States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom, whose Queen smiles happily from Canadian postage stamps.”

Wow.

“Maybe it is this which makes the Canadians so … retentive, or cowardly.”

Double-wow.

And remember, this was written before Canada found its inner-primate and manhandled Russia in the hockey quarterfinals.

While the British press has been no fan of these games, even they were taken aback by the viciousness of Pravda’s attack.

“Even more diligent critics of Vancouver 2010 have been astonished by the editorial,” the Times of London wrote today.