ACOG - News - IBM

(24 July 1996; Day 05)

Initials May Change, but Russian Men's Handball Dominance Remains Same

Call the squad whatever you want -- Russia, the Russian Federation or the Former Soviet Union -- but whatever you call them, they're considered by many to be the team to beat at the 1996 Olympic Games in handball.

The Russian Federation enters the 1996 tournament as the unofficial two-time defending gold medalists and the favorite to win top honors in Atlanta. Why unofficial? For the third consecutive Olympic Games, Russian players are competing under a different name. In Seoul in 1988, the gold went to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (URS). Four years ago in Barcelona, the Commonwealth of Independent States (or the Unified Team, EUN) won Olympic handball's highest prize. Now the team is playing under the initials RUS for the Russian Federation.

With international stars such as goalkeeper Andrei LAVROV and center back Vassili KOUDINOV leading the way for Russia, perhaps it's no wonder their squad is favored in the tournament. In Wednesday's opener (a 32-20 win against Kuwait), youth and experience helped the Russians to victory. KOUDINOV scored twice while Oleg KOULECHOV, the second-youngest player on the squad at age 22, connected on all seven of his shot attempts. LAVROV, who is looking for his third gold medal, stopped seven of the 20 shots that came his way.

"The first game is very hard, as always, because the team is trying its best," said Russian coach Vladimir MAXIMOV. "We made some mistakes this game and will try to correct them for next game."

While the Russian mistakes may be hard for opponents to notice, this team could have been even stronger. An injury to Vjatscheslav ATAWIN suffered at the European Championships will keep him out of the Olympic Games, and Oleg GREBNEW is still shaking off nagging pains from the European Championships.

Could this be the best Russian squad ever? That remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: This is the best Olympic team that has ever played for Russia, and only for Russia.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Kevin Henry.


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Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium.