Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called...

The Vancouver Games were Russia"s worst, with the team winning just three gold medals, five silver and seven bronze, and finishing 11th in the medal table. The Kremlin has been appalled by Russia"s "dismal" performance.

"The question arises: maybe, the funds went not where they were needed, but where some people wanted. Of course, we need to look at this," he said at a special governmental meeting to discuss the results of the Vancouver Olympics.

The prime minister added that Russia had spent 3.3 billion rubles ($110.5 million) preparing its Olympic team, five times more than for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, when Russia was fourth in the medal table with eight gold, six silver and eight bronze medals.

"Attempts to explain the defeat solely by biased judging, weather conditions or obstacles posed by rivals are inappropriate. This is what outsiders do. We should start with an analysis of our own work: if everything was done for our athletes, if those who were

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