Russia's first 2010 Olympic medal won by Ivan Skobrev

Speed skater, Ivan Skobrev, has won the first Olympic medal for Russia in Vancouver, taking third place in the 5000 meters with a score of 6 minutes 18 seconds, about 4 seconds behind Dutchman Sven Kramer who set a new Olympic record and won the gold. His time was 6 minutes14.60 seconds. Second place was taken by the representative of South Korea Lee Seung-hoon.

Skobrev took to the ice in the penultimate, or 13th round, and managed to get ahead of his nearest rival Italian Enrico Fabris. The fate of whether or not Russia medals, was decided in the final, 14th event. He beat his Norwegian opponent for third place by only 0.75 seconds. Another Russian also taking part in the competition and competing in the 5000 meter event, Alexander Rumyantsev, was disqualified from competition for impeding his opponents . From Russia the Russian Olympic champions will receive the following amounts for their successes in Vancouver; 100 thousand euros for first place, the silver medalist will be richer by 60 thousand euros, and the bronze medalist by 40 thousand euros.

 Skobrev was born on February 8, 1983 in Khabarovsk. He is 187 cm tall and weighs 85 kilograms. He graduated from the St. Petersburg State Engineering and Economic University. He has been a part of Russia's national team since 2000. He was a bronze medalist in the 2007 world championship in the team race. He also won the bronze medal in 2010 in the classic all-around. He is a multiple champion and a record holder here in Russia and a world-class master sportsman. At present, he trains, together with the Italian team led by Maurizio Marchetto and is in the Olympics for the second time.