MOSCOW, December 5 (R-Sport) – Russia's freestyle skiers are aiming for medals in three events at February's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian Skiing Association general director Sergey Korol told R-Sport on Thursday.
As host nation, Russia is able to enter at least one athlete in each event, the number of which rose to five after halfpipe and slopestyle disciplines were added to the Olympic program.
“We think that our athletes should achieve success in aerials, moguls and ski-cross,” Korol said. “In the other two disciplines, any place in the top 20 would be a good result for our team.”
He placed particular hopes on 21-year-old Veronika Korsunova, who won silver in the aerials at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in Norway in March.
Korol added that Russia aimed to claim 25 out of a possible maximum of 26 Olympic entries, the final allocation of which will be made on January 19.
Russia has won only three Olympic medals in freestyle since the sport was introduced in 1992. Vladimir Lebedev took aerials bronze in Turin in 2006, while Sergey Shupletsov and Yelizaveta Kozhevnikova grabbed moguls silver and bronze in 1994.
The XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi will run from February 7-23.
