Russian Olympic bobsled champ injured in attack
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Olympic bobsled champion Alexander Zubkov has been hospitalized after confronting attackers who entered the courtyard of his Moscow home and began smashing the Mercedes-Benz he received for winning two gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
The attackers were striking the car’s windshield and headlights with baseball bats, according to the ITAR-TASS news agency.
A fight ensued and Zubkov sustained injuries to his arms and wrist, the report stated.
Zubkov dominated the competition in Sochi, Russia, outracing the sled piloted by defending gold medalist Steve Holcomb of the U.S. in the four-man event.
“We won and we proved to everybody that we are the best,” Zubkov said. “That is most important.”
In late February, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev awarded 44 Mercedes to his country’s medalists. GL SUVs went to gold medalists, MLs to silver medalists and GLKs to athletes winning bronze.
“It is a prize that I think can’t be unnecessary,” Medvedev was quoted as saying at the time.
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