Russia’s track and field athletics chief Valentin Balakhnichev said Tuesday he had high hopes for his country’s chances of winning medals at the London Olympics which start on July 27.
Unveiling the country’s athletics squad, Balakhnichev said that results from last week’s national athletics championships in Cheboksary boosted his optimism ahead of the Olympics.
“Our athletes performed season’s best results in six disciplines at Cheboksary,” Balakhnichev said. “I believe we did everything right and we’re still moving the right direction.”
Russia’s pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva, a 30-year-old two-time Olympic champion, who is also the world record holder, is one of the country’s red hot favourites for gold at the London Games.
Reigning world champions Maria Abakumova in javelin, Tatiana Chernova in heptathlon, Tatiana Lysenko in hammer, Maria Savinova over 800 metres, Anna Chicherova in high jump are also among Russia’s gold medal hopes.
Four 2012 European champions – Irina Davydva, Olga Golovkina, veteran Yury Borzakovsky and Sergei Shubenkov – also have serious medal chances.
Balakhnichev added: “We did everything we could in these four years after the Beijing Olympics. We’ve chosen the country’s best athletes to compete at the main event of the four-year period.
“All of our athletes understand perferctly that it’s a great honour to represent Russia at the Olympics.
“It will be extremely tough to clinch a place at the podium at London but I hope that our people’s support will help us to perform at the upcoming Games with dignity.”
Men
400m: Maxim Dyldin, Pavel Trenikhin
4x400m relay: Maxim Dyldin, Pavel Trenikhin, Vladimir Krasnov, Denis Alekseyev, Valentin Kruglyakov, Sergei Petukhov
800m: Yury Borzakovsky, Ivan Tukhtachev
1500m: Yegor Nikolayev
110m hurdles: Sergei Shubenkov, Konstantin Shabanov, Alexei Dremin
400m hurdles: Vyacheslav Sakayev
3,000m steeplechase: Nikolai Chavkin
Marathon: Alexei Reunkov, Grigory Andreyev, Dmitry Safronov
Pole vault: Sergei Kuchereanu, Dmitry Starodubtsev, Yevgeny Lukianenko
High jump: Ivan Ukhov, Andrei Silnov, Alexander Shustov
Long jump: Alexander Menkov, Sergei Morgunov, Alexander Petrov
Triple jump: Lyukman Adams
Discus: Bogdan Pishchalnikov
Hammer: Kirill Ikonnikov, Igor Vinnichenko, Alexei Zagorny
Javelin: Ilya Korotkov
Shot put: Maxim Sidorov, Ivan Yushkov, Soslan Tsirikhov
20km walk: Valery Borchin, Andrei Krivov, Vladimir Kanaikin
50km walk: Sergei Bakulin, Sergei Kirdyapkin, Igor Yerokhin
Decathlon: Sergei Sviridov, Ilya Shkurenev
Women
100m: Yevgenia Polyakovva
4x100m: Yevgenia Polyakovva, Natalia Rusakova, Yelizaveta Savlinis, Olga Belkina, Yulia Chermoshanskaya
200m: Alexandra Fedoriva
400m: Antonina Krivoshapka, Yulia Gushchina, Tatiana Firova
4x400m: Antonina Krivoshapka, Yulia Gushchina, Tatiana Firova, Natalia Nazarova, Ksenia Vdovina, Anastasia Kapachinskaya
