24.01 Russian Sports Minister Plays Down Olympic Medal Hopes

MOSCOW, January 23 (R-Sport) - Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko seemed to prepare the host nation Thursday for failure at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, saying that “any result” would be acceptable.

Following the unprecedented disappointment of coming 11th in the medals table at the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Russia’s team is under pressure to improve. Senior officials have backed away from earlier predictions of finishing among the leaders in Sochi, however.

“It’s important to support any result that the team displays,” Mutko told a news conference to announce Russia’s squad of 223 athletes, the largest number ever for a Winter Games host nation.

Mutko’s ministry set a target of finishing in the top three in the medal table in a document published in June, which Mutko has previously said would be an “outstanding” achievement.

Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said in 2012 that “we have a task to come first,” but has softened his line since then, declining to set a formal medal target for the host team.