Russia (bbabo.net), - The Winter Olympic Games start in Beijing in February. China Media Corporation correspondent Dmitry Maslak prepared an exclusive interview with Stanislav Pozdnyakov, President of the Russian Olympic Committee.

How many Russian athletes will go to Beijing?

Stanislav Pozdnyakov: About 600 people have been included in the accreditation system. Which of them will win quotas, respectively, will be participants in the Olympic Games. According to our ideas, we should be represented at the games by 216 athletes, almost an equal number of men and women. At the moment, 102 quotas have already been confirmed, that is, we are approaching the bar of 50 percent of the proposed team.

In what sports does Russia hope to win?

Stanislav Pozdnyakov: The number of medals that we expect to win will allow us to claim up to fourth place in the team event. And compared to previous games, of course, where we played as a truncated team, for us the very participation of a full-fledged team, as it will be now in Beijing, is already a kind of step forward.

We really hope that in recent years a lot of talented young people have appeared in the national teams, and we rely on them in such disciplines as freestyle, snowboarding, which are not so often talked about at the Olympic level, but at the world championships our athletes consistently and well perform just in these disciplines. And, of course, our main hope is figure skating, single women's figure skating. In principle, in all other types of the program, perhaps, with the exception of the men's singles, we are competitive and ready to compete for the highest places. Well, separately, of course, it is worth mentioning the hockey tournament, which always attracts great attention, not only from connoisseurs, but also from all sports fans.

What can you say about epidemiological safety during competitions?

Stanislav Pozdnyakov: The pandemic has not gone anywhere, it remains, we have ceased to be afraid of it in the sense in which it was at the very beginning, now we are looking at how to most adequately, most skillfully respond to its challenges. The biggest difficulty was in the previous period, when everything was just beginning. Of course, we walked like a minefield, we did not know many things. Now, of course, this has been worked out, but the first and most important thing here is the introduction of anti-COVID protocols at federal training bases. Now the athletes who are at these bases understand how to behave, how to protect themselves and others.

Do you think the boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics is fact or fiction?

Stanislav Pozdnyakov: No National Olympic Committee has any doubts about the expediency and necessity of participating in these Olympic Games. We recently returned from Greece, where the 25th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees of the countries was held, where we talked in great detail about how we will participate in these games. About a hundred National Olympic Committees will take part in the Olympics. It is clear that the Winter Olympic Games, due to their specifics, still gather a smaller number of countries, but, nevertheless, there are no words that would contain at least some mention of a boycott or some kind of protest, not that there was not, in principle, it cannot be, because the sports Olympic movement was created solely in order to create bridges, build ties between countries and continents. And it was in this that the founder of the modern international Olympic movement, Baron de Coubertin, saw the role of sport. Therefore, these comments about boycotts remain on the conscience of politicians, on the conscience of various media resources, but this does not exactly reflect the attitude of the Olympic community.

Is Beijing ready to host the Winter Olympics?

Stanislav Pozdnyakov: I managed to talk to almost the majority of the leaders of the international sports federations that will be represented in the program of the games in Beijing, and exchange views on the sports facilities that they or their representatives have already visited. And they assured me that the level of all sports facilities is the highest in terms of technological and sports infrastructure. Thus, no one in our sports community has any doubts about the high level of Beijing's preparation for the games. I am also confident that the organizers of the competition will be able to hold the Games at the highest organizational level.

How much will Russia spend to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics?Stanislav Pozdnyakov: Our program of preparation for the Olympic Games is about 10 million dollars, it is clear that this is only part of the top of this pyramid, because everything else is training in sports clubs, youth sports schools, this huge funds of the Ministry of Sports, which it invests in the training of its national teams. Therefore, I cannot tell you the final figure here, but it is quite large. We create a pledge of our future for our descendants. Because physical culture and sports create opportunities for people not only to develop physically, but, first of all, to maintain their health, lead a healthy lifestyle, which in the end can lead to big savings from the point of view of the Ministry of Health.

What would you wish the Olympians?

Stanislav Pozdnyakov: Most importantly, I would like all Russian and Chinese athletes to demonstrate the three main values ​​of Olympism: friendship, respect for the opponent and striving for excellence. And may the best man win!

An Olympic.jpgt from Russia Text: Wang Yu A few months ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his full support for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

After the Olympics in Tokyo, the media began to cover in detail everything related to the Winter Olympics in Beijing. At the same time, many countries began to provoke insinuations under the pretext of "human rights issues" in order to turn sports competitions into a political incident and boycott the Olympics.

In the current international situation, the Russian government announced the provision of natural gas supplies to China, providing energy support for the successful holding of the Winter Olympics. This decision of Russia, no doubt, proved to be very timely, Russia helped to solve a serious problem of energy supply for the Winter Olympics.

After learning about the "Olympic.jpgt" from Russia, many representatives of the Chinese Internet community exclaimed in the comments: "Well done, Putin!"

Russia supports the holding of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. China believes that such support has become "an example for the whole world."

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