The whole world is against Russia, says Olympic champion Makarova

Dubai - It's a big honor to be to an Olympic champion in Russia, Makarova said

"If you win an Olympic gold, they give you a BMW X6 in Russia," Ekaterina Makarova told reporters after her stunning three set (6-2 4-6 6-2) win over world number five Dominika Cibulkova at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday.
"And you get X5 for silver, X4 for bronze," the world number 30, who won the women's doubles gold with Elena Vesnina at the Rio Olympics last year, said.
"In Russia, the Olympics is a very big thing. We get a lot of money and we get a lot of things, you know, we get the car from the president. Athletes from other countries don't get the kind of things Olympic medal winners get in Russia!"
Makarova, who has reached the semifinal stage in the singles event of a Grand Slam twice in her career, said winning an Olympic medal means more to her than winning a Grand Slam event.
"Yeah, it's a big honor to be to an Olympic champion in Russia. Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to win an Olympic gold medal more than a Grand Slam title," said Makarova, who has won two Grand Slam doubles titles and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title in her decorated career.
"When you are Olympic champion, you can go wherever you want to go. They will let you go, because it's a very big status in Russia."
The current world number 30 then revealed why her singles ranking has suffered in recent years.
"Yes, I want to be more consistent in singles. But then I haven't really seen too many ups and downs. My ranking was like 20, 21, 22 in the last couple of years. Then I reached the top 10 (in 2015), and I think my head didn't expect that. The pressure was too much," she said.
"I just wanted to close, you know, myself. I didn't like that kind of moments.
"But, of course, when you are not playing that well, you want to get back to your best level. So, yeah, last year I was putting all my effort for the gold medal. I knew that singles ranking would suffer because my dream was just to win the gold medal (in doubles) and that's it.
"After (the 2012) London Games, I remember telling my coach that I would play in Rio. I just wanted the gold medal and nothing else. I could have happily ended my career after that gold," she smiled.
"But when I won the gold, you know, I didn't feel tired. I thought I can keep playing." The left-handed baseliner then blamed the world politics for the Russian doping fiasco. "Well, I think it's not the Russian sports. It's just the politics. It is as if the whole world is against us," she said.
"Maybe some of the things we do are not very good. But still, I think the sportsmen are not the people who need to do doping, you know. For some people, everyone should not be banned, should not be stopped from going to the Olympics Games, and now they have banned the skiing, the biathlon, it's so bad, you know.
"But we are fighters, you know. We are fighting all the time, and I think we are the strongest people in the world," said Makarova, referring to Russia's fourth-place finish in the medals table with 56 medals (19 gold) despite the uncertainty surrounding their contingent before the start of the Games in Rio.
"We are strong because we just need to survive. There are a lot of tough things that are happening, so maybe that makes us tough inside."
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com