With three days to go before the International Olympic Committee meets in Guatemala, Russia is firmly set on victory, Mr Putin said. Sochi’s unique natural environment, Russia’s winter sports traditions and the achievements of Russian sportspeople are all in Sochi’s favour in its bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Taking part in the meeting with the President were: skier Svetlana Gladysheva, Olympic fencing champion Galina Gorokhova, figure skaters Alexander Gorshkov and Tatyana Navka, speed skater Nikolai Gulyaev, synchronous swimmers Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Yermakova, Albert Demchenko, who won a silver medal in sledding at the Turin Winter Olympics, gymnasts Alina Kabayeva, Irina Chashina, Svetlana Khorkina and Alexei Nemov, biathlon athlete Viktor Mamatov, hockey players Boris Mikhailov, Alexander Yakushev and Vladislav Tretyak, President of the Russian Olympic Committee Leonid Tyagachev and his deputy, head of the Presidential Household Affairs Department Vladimir Kozhin. Also taking part was Norwegian biathlon athlete Ole-Einar Bjorndalen.