Russian Government Accused Of Stealing

Russia’s government still hasn’t paid most Russian medalists their prize money from the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano, the head of Russia’s ski federation said.

Russian athletes won nine gold medals, six silver and three bronze at last year’s games. In addition to official Olympic winnings, the medalists were promised special bonuses by President Boris Yeltsin - up to $50,000 extra for each gold medal.

The White House will try to have duplicate medals awarded to U.S. Olympic athletes known to have lost to competitors using illegal drugs, the federal drug czar said.

Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, plans to pursue the matter at next month’s world doping summit, despite the IOC’s recent rejection of at least two similar pleas.