MOSCOW -- Luxury cars, apartments, even a racehorse -- being an Olympic medalist in Russia can come with great material rewards but also controversy.Under President Vladimir Putin, its become a tradition for Russias Olympic heroes to be showered with large cash sums and sometimes unwanted gifts.On Friday, less than 24 hours after dozens of medalists were presented with BMW cars at the Kremlin by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, an advertisement appeared online offering one of them for sale, with photographs showing the car still covered in stickers celebrating Russias medal haul in Rio.The advertisement offering the BMW X6 for 4.67 million rubles ($72,000) was anonymous and quickly withdrawn. It couldnt be independently verified by The Associated Press, though Russian agency R-Sport claimed the seller was a Russian medalist who thought the car was too big and unwieldy.Figure skater Maxim Trankov, who received a Mercedes-Benz SUV for his gold medal in 2014, said few Olympians could afford to own such cars.Has no one thought that these gift cars are not only liable for the tax on luxury items, but also arent cheap to run and earnings cant cover it? he wrote on Twitter. Id sell mine too if it came to it ... Or does everyone think all sports pay as well as soccer, hockey or tennis?Gymnast Seda Tutkhalyan said she wouldnt be able to drive her new BMW because at 17 years of age she was too young to have a license.While online commenters mostly supported an athletes right to sell expensive Olympic gifts, many were critical of the government for a display of conspicuous consumption at the Kremlin at a time when Russias pension and healthcare systems are under financial strain.Its not fully clear how much the prizes have cost the Russian government.State TV channel Rossiya 24 reported that the fleet of BMWs was provided by the Olympians Support Fund, which is backed by a group of Russias richest men, but that the accompanying cash prizes of tens of thousands of dollars per medalist came in part from the federal budget.More awards are on offer from regional governments, many of which made public displays of generosity despite financial troubles of their own.The Caucasus region of North Ossetia last month promised a free apartment for any medalists from the area, though it isnt clear if this has happened yet. In another grand gesture, the head of the restive Dagestan region gave Olympic wrestling champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev 6 million rubles ($93,000) in cash and a racehorse at a lavish welcoming ceremony featured on local TV.Still, all may not be well for Sadulaev, whos nicknamed the Russian Tank for his habit of crushing opponents on the wrestling mat. Hes already facing an allegation from a Moscow radio presenter of reckless driving in his eye-catching BMW.Nike Vapormax Levne . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Vapormax Plus Dámské . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. http://www.vapormaxlevne.cz/vapormax-plus-boty.html . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . Vapormax Boty Cz . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Nike Vapormax Panske . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season.The lawyer for the accused standover bikie at the centre of the Jarryd Hayne affair insists the Gold Coast NRL star knew who his client was well before the infamous video was filmed.Hayne denied knowing that former Titans under-20s player Chris Bloomfield was a Hells Angels bikie on Tuesday, after a video of the pair partying together emerged.Hayne has also denied a wad of $5,000 cash was given to Bloomfield by him, however those denials have reportedly also been countered by the bikies lawyer, Adam Magill, who insists it was Haynes.[Bloomfield] told me they knew each other and were mates, Magill told Fairfax Media.They were celebrating. He was only joking around. There was nothing evil or sinister.Hayne maintained on Tuesday afternoon that he had not met Bloomfield previously, nor knew of his past which includes him facing extortion charges.There were some people there that I knew and some people there I didnt know, including Chris Bloomfield who I met for the first time, Hayne said in a statement.ddddddddddddAs any human would do, I said hello to those I came into contact with and was friendly as normal.I understand Bloomfield filmed a few short Snapchat videos of me rapping to an Eminem song.At the time, I was not aware of this persons history with the law and alleged bikie affiliations.Hayne has also received the backing of his personal Gold Coast sponsors, and the Titans club are now aiming to implement structures to prevent players from coming into contact with such figures.Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate moved to defend both the club and Hayne on Wednesday, praising his attitude to any fans.The Titans didnt do anything wrong, he said.They are careful. Jarryd is just being a generous soul and made that mistake there.The NRLs integrity unit have said they are looking into the video. ' ' '
