Russian President Vladimir Putin (at the wheel) and Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov (left) during an inspection of one of tunnels on the Sochi cutoff road
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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President Chairs Sports Council Meeting
Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of Sports Council yesterday. “The level of comfort for the guests at the Olympics should be higher than existing world standards… Engineering facilities of a completely new generation have to be built… And we need sports results at these games, if we are going to hold them at home,” he told the officials gathered.
Chairman of the Russian Federal Agency for Fitness, Sports and Tourism Vyacheslav Fetisov stated that Russia would need 14 gold medals to lead the world. That is a result that was never seen even in Soviet times. After being asked why there are no expectations for Russian alpine skiers, Fetisov adjusted that number upward with gold and bronze medals promised in that sport.
The Russian president commented on Olympic preparations after the meeting while inspecting the construction of a cutoff road between Dzhugba and Sochi, calling his impression of the preparations “good” and then changing that to “satisfactory.” “As for the choice of facilities, there are no more major disagreements,” he added. Kommersant sources say that there will be changes to the original proposal, which means that the approval of the International Olympic Committee will be needed.
Minister of Regional Development Dmitry Kozak noted at that meeting that there were still ownership issues over the land for 216 facilities.
The president also said that eight federal training centers will be set up for competing athletes, as well as ten boarding schools and 30 regional centers. He compared the country's Olympic goals to his idea of doubling the national GDP, which was initially met with skepticism, but is now “a realistic task.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 06, 2008
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