The Russian Olympic Committee has banned all of their country’s athletes from consuming alcohol during the 2012 London Summer Games. On May 21 Ilia Djous, a representative of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Kozak, told the Kommersant newspaper “Olympic values are not compatible with alcohol.”
The decision is a result of the “disastrous results” during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, which ended with only 14 medals out of an expected 50. The newspaper also reported that “The Russian receptions in Vancouver were the noisiest,” and cited a party thrown by the Russian athletes where fake gas pumps were used to distribute whiskey and vodka.
The Telegraph reports that around 500,000 Russians suffer alcohol related deaths annually and life expectancies of males in Honduras and Bangladesh are higher than that of Russian men.
Below is footage of Russian high jumper Ivan Ukhov inebriated while attempting (and failing) a feat.
