Crossword Genius

Runner in a manner of speaking from Russia gets first gold (7,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

persian rug

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'gold' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'runner in a manner of speaking from russia gets first' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'runner' could be 'rug' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'rug' is found in the answer.
'a' could be 'per' (eg 'one a day' means 'one per day') and 'per' is found in the answer.
'first' could be 'i' (I in Roman numerals eg Elizabeth I) and 'i' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'san' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for persian rug that I've seen is " One may be floored".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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