Translated material
Mutko: third or fourth place at the Sochi Olympics will be an “outstanding result” for Russia
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko believes that it will be problematic for the Russian team to take first place in the team event at the Olympics in Sochi.
“I never said that we would fight specifically for first place in the medal standings in Sochi,” Mutko said on Wednesday at a meeting of the board of the Russian Ministry of Sports. “Another thing is that we always set maximum goals for our athletes. But we need to be realistic , because in winter sports we are experiencing huge problems."
“In Sochi, medals will be competed in 98 disciplines in 14 sports. We can actually claim medals in four sports - skiing, figure skating, skating and biathlon,” noted the Russian Minister of Sports.
“In Vancouver (Winter Olympics 2010) we were only eleventh, and there were objective reasons for this: the loss of traditions and a change of generations. And only now we are little by little beginning to regain our positions. Even in skiing we are not leaders now. You see that Bjorgen and Kovalchik constantly win World Cup stages, so now they won’t come to Sochi? Now our Yulia Chekaleva is just starting to compete with them,” said Vitaly Mutko.
“In general, given the current situation, if we come third or fourth in Sochi, this will be an outstanding result. This is probably the task we will set for our athletes,” he said.
The strategy approved by the Russian government in 2009 set the goal of the Russian national team winning first place in the unofficial team event at the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014. At the beginning of March, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said that the team’s tasks would be adjusted .