Tyagachev officially resigned as President of the ROC following the country's performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which has raised fears that Russia will be embarrassed when it hosts the Games in Sochi in 2014.

His departure had been announced yesterday but his personal spokeswoman had initially denied it.

Russia finished 11th in the medal count with a total of 15, winning only three golds, and suffered a disappointing loss in the men's hockey quarter-finals to host country Canada.

Medvedev said: "The decision was a normal reaction to comments by Medvedev (sic) and Russian sports fans."

Medvedev had on Monday called for officials involved in the disappointing performance in Vancouver to resign or face being forced out.

Tyagachev said:  "I have long been working in sports.

"Many years [I] have led the Olympic Committee of Russia, and [I am] always responsible to the task.

"At the Olympics in Vancouver [we] were not displaying results that we expected."

Tyagachev, 63, served as Russia's Sports and Tourism Minister before he took the post at the ROC in 2001.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
March 2010: Confusion over Tyagachev resignation as Olympic chief after Vancouver flop
February 2010: Russian Sports Minister offers to quit after Olympic failure
February 2010:Russian President demands resignation of Olympic coaches
February 2010: Putin confident Russia will turn things round for Sochi 2014
February 2010: Russian President set to demand answers over team's poor performance