24.01 Russia Aims to Win Medals in 11 of 15 Olympic Sports – Zhukov

MOSCOW, January 23 (R-Sport) – Russia will be a realistic medal contender in 11 of 15 sports at next month’s Winter Games in Sochi, the country's Olympic chief Alexander Zhukov said Thursday.

The host nation is looking to atone for Russia’s failure in Vancouver four years ago, when it finished 11th in the overall standings, winning 22 medals in seven sports. It had never previously been out of the top five.

“At the Sochi Olympics, Russian athletes will stake a claim for medals in 11 of 15 sports, but there is no medal plan,” Zhukov said.

Zhukov didn’t name the four events where the country was not expecting to win a medal, but Russia is weak in Alpine skiing, Nordic combined and luge. It has also never won a medal in curling or short track speedskating.

Russia will be represented by 223 athletes at the Games from February 7-23, the biggest squad of any nation.