RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — For Russia's swimmers, the Olympics is all about what might have been.
Their haul of two silver and two bronze medals so far continues a 20-year wait for gold in the pool, even though they have matched their best in that time.
The top Russians are now wondering what they could have achieved if their preparations hadn't been disrupted by the threat of doping bans.
"Of course you'd like it to be better," Yulia Efimova said of Russia's showing after winning the second of her silver medals Thursday.
Efimova came close to missing the Rio de Janeiro Olympics altogether because of a 16-month ban she served after testing positive for a banned steroid in 2013 — which she insists was all a mistake caused by failing to read the label on an over-the-counter supplement.