Putin orders analysis of Russia's Olympic results

MOSCOW - The performance of the Russian delegation in the London Olympics should be assessed after the games, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

"We must take a look at the results of the whole Olympic Games and only after that one would be able to say where we succeeded and where we failed," Putin told reporters in western Russian region of Leningrad.

"We failed in some sports disciplines where our organizers and specialists expected medals, and we got gold medals in others where we did not expect." This must be thoroughly analyzed afterwards, Putin said.

As of Tuesday, Russia has won 7 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze medals, ranking the sixth by its gold medals and the top three by the total number of medals.

These results have triggered heated debates in the country, as polls showed that many Russians were disappointed with the performance of the Russian delegation.

However, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev defended Tuesday that the national team's performance was not a failure or a disaster.

"There are many silver (medals) this year, we are a silver country, this is good. It means our sport potential remains very high," Medvedev said.

Before the 2012 Olympics, Russia has set a minimum target of 25 gold medals in London, in a bid to reach a top-three place in the medal table.

During the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Russia reached top three behind China and the United States with 72 medals, including 23 gold medals.