The Winter Olympics starts in Beijing on February 4. In China, the Russian team will start again without the flag and anthem (sanctions by the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) continue). However, its lineup is close to the strongest one. Continuing to defend the rights of its athletes added to the WADA blacklists, Russia has raised a new generation of brilliant athletes that the anti-doping agency has no and cannot have any claims to.
Figure skating record-holders Kamila Valieva and Anna Shcherbakova, skiers Alexander Bolshunov and Natalya Nepryaeva who proved world leadership in pre-Olympic competitions, and the hockey team that still remembers the taste of victory, have come to Beijing to win the Olympic gold.
At the Beijing Games, Russia (officially, the Russian Olympic Committee team) will be represented by 212 athletes. Russian athletes will participate in all sports included in the Olympic Games.
Champions on Ice
Four years ago, the Russian national team, deprived of the leaders in most sports due to controversial sanctions, still managed to win more medals than expected. However, there were two gold medals only. They were won by the men's hockey team and figure skater Alina Zagitova.
At the Beijing Games, hockey and figure skating are again among Russia's top hopes. When it comes to ice sports, the fans expect only gold from our athletes.
Let's start with hockey. Four years ago in Pyeongchang, our team won Olympic gold for the first time in 26 years, in Beijing the team can continue the golden path.
Nikita Gusev. Photo credit: International Olympic Committee
All the more so because the squad includes those athletes who contributed to the victory in 2018. Forward Nikita Gusev who tied the score in the last minute of the final game has come to China as well. Unstoppable rearguard Nikita Nesterov retained his place in the roster, and forward Vadim Shipachev has come with the aim to get his second Olympic gold as captain of the Russian national team.
After it became known that the North American National Hockey League would not let players go to the Olympic teams, Russia's "stock" has skyrocketed. Our team is considered the main contender to win by experts, bookmakers, and fans.
The tournament has not yet begun, but Russian hockey is already the talk of the Olympics. It was announced that more than half of all participants in the men's hockey tournament (namely, 127 players) play in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). And over the past four years, that number has grown dramatically. It is not only the Russian national team that has the skeleton formed of the KHL players. The same is true also for some of its major rivals - the Finns, the Czechs, and partially the Canadians and the Swedes.
Kamila Valieva. Photo credit: International Olympic Committee
Now let us talk about the figure skaters. Three girls, solo figure skaters, look the strongest in the Russian team. World and European champions Alexandra Trusova, Kamila Valieva who holds unbroken world records in the short and free programs, and Anna Shcherbakova, the first figure skater who performed quad lutz in the history of figure skating, came to Beijing.
The current world, European and Russian champions Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov will compete for the victory among the pairs. As to ice dancing, the experienced pair of Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, the current World and European champions, have a good chance for the gold.
Skiing for medals
Several new Russian skiing stars were born during the 2018 Winter Games. Foreign broadcasters had to quickly learn the names of Bolshunov, Spitsov, Larkov, Nepryaeva, and other medalists. Many people remember that Alexander Bolshunov's father told TV reporters how he had used a tractor in the Bryansk region to roll the track for his son.
Alexander Bolshunov. Photo credit: International Olympic Committee
Over the four years between the Olympics, Bolshunov Jr. skated through the world's major ski tournaments and won a collection of medals. He became the world champion, twice won the Big Crystal Globe for winning the overall World Cup title, and twice won the Tour de Ski.
Natalya Nepryaeva won the last pre-Olympic race of the Tour de Ski and became the first Russian woman in history to win the trophy. There are other contenders for victory in the Russian team that is preparing for the start of the Olympic Games - Sergey Ustiugov, Aleksey Chervotkin, Denis Spitsov, Yulya Stupak, and other skiers who also have the experience of international victories.
Russian biathlon has been going through some tough times in recent years but there are spurts of hope. In men's biathlon, the main hopes are associated with Alexander Loginov who has been showing a consistently high level for several years. He is currently the only Russian to be in the top 10 of the World Cup overall standings.
Biathlon. Kristina Reztsova. Photo credit: International Olympic Committee
The Russian relay team, which claimed victory in almost every race during the Olympic season, is also good. Among women, Kristina Reztsova has been successful in recent months. The daughter of Olympic champion Anfisa Reztsova will try to bring her famous family name back to the Olympic protocol in Beijing.
On bobs and sled
Bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton are rapidly evolving in Russia. The construction of Russia's first professional track for the Sochi Olympics became a launching pad for Russian athletes who consistently won medals and titles at the recent Games.
Talented young athletes come along, and experienced athletes keep up their momentum. The skeleton team in Beijing includes 36-year-old Alexander Tretyakov who won the Olympic bronze medal back in 2010, and four years later he became the champion in Sochi. The Russian team also includes Olympic and world championship medalist, World Cup winner Elena Nikitina.
Russia has an experienced and well-titled luge team that includes last two years' world champion Roman Repilov, World Cup holder Semen Pavlichenko, and Olympic medalist Tatyana Ivanova. Rostislav Gaitiukevich who won bronze at last year's European Championships stands out in the bobsleigh team.
Pavel Kulizhnikov. Photo credit: International Olympic Committee
When it comes to speed skating, Russia has probably the strongest team of recent years. It includes winners of the Olympics, world champions, and medalists of the world championships. Furthermore, young speed skaters, champions of junior world championships that have experience in adult competitions, have also come to Beijing.
Five-time world champion in individual distances and world record holder Pavel Kulizhnikov, who is considered to be the biggest star of Russian skating, is preparing to make his Olympic debut. For a variety of reasons, he missed a few Games, and he will take to the Olympic ice for the first time at the age of 27. We want to believe that the Russian sprinter's greater success is still ahead.
Waiting for surprises
Any Olympics is full of surprises. This is why people around the world love it, even those who are otherwise indifferent to sports. Fortunately, the Russian team has a lot of athletes who can come into the spotlight for the whole world, even when it comes to those kinds of sports that are not regarded as our traditional ones.
Alexandra Kustova, 23, may cause a sensation in ski jumping. She won the bronze medal with an incredible result - 150 meters at the last World Cup before the Olympics. The Russian athlete joined the contenders for the Olympic medal in a blink of an eye.
Reigning big air World Champion Anastasia Tatalina, who was the first Russian woman to win gold in extreme freestyle skiing, also came to the Olympics for a medal.
The Russian men's and women's national curling teams have all chances to win their first Olympic medals in Beijing. The men's and women's teams have repeatedly won World and European championships. Their strongest squads have arrived in China.
Seven new disciplines are introduced into the program of the Winter Olympics, and we expect Russian victories in them as well. These are women's mono-bob, men's and women's ski big-air, as well as mixed team competitions in short track, ski jumping, snowboard cross, and ski acrobatics.
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