Chance for a historical record. How many medals will Russia win at the Olympics :: Olympics 2022 :: RBC Sport
The Winter Olympics are starting in Beijing. From Russia, 212 athletes will compete for awards. What are the chances of the Russians for gold in the overall standings and who to follow – in the material “RBC Sport”
Photo: TASS
How many medals will Russia take in Beijing?
Most of the Olympic awards will be played in biathlon (11 sets of awards), cross-country skiing (11), speed skating (14), cross-country skiing (12), snowboarding (11) and freestyle (13). In Nordic combined, ski jumping and skiing, the Russians have almost no chance of medals, but among other disciplines, the Russian team can compete in a solid competition for awards.
American company “Gracenote” discovered forecast of the results of the medal standings of the Winter Olympics. Russian athletes are expected to win 30 medals, 13 more than at the Pyeongchang Olympics four years ago. This figure was a record for the entire time of participation in the Winter Olympiads of both the Russian and the Soviet Union teams.
To this head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdnyakov said that the team is ready to fight for a place in the top three of the medal standings. According to him, the team can get 30 medals at the end.
Cross-country skiing and figure skating have become popular among all sports for Russia. Each discipline must be used in the treasury of the national team for 7 medals. In addition, the Russian national team can count on the gold medal in biathlon (both in team relay races and in reverse starts), freestyle, speed skating, snowboarding and in the men’s hockey tournament.
Which Russian should be watching the Beijing Olympics?
Alexander Bolshunov (cross-country skiing)
Four years ago, in Pyeongchang, Bolshunov became a three-time silver medalist, but never made it to Olympic gold. This time, Russian skiers have every chance to take gold both in the 15 km race in the classical style and in the 2×15 km skiathlon, where Alexander already became the world champion a year ago.
Video: MATCH TV
Bolshunov in a fairly short period of time became the number 1 skier in Russia: he is a seven-time winner of two world championships, a two-time winner of a large crystal globe in recent seasons, and a winner of the Tour de Ski multi-day races. In the 15 km race in the classic style at the Olympics, Bolshunov’s main competitor was Finn Ivo Niskanen, and in the ski-athlon became the legendary adult Johannes Klebo.
Natalia Nepryaeva (cross-country skiing)
Four years ago, the Russian woman could already become an Olympic medalist, but she turned out to be a rival at the finish line and was only eighth. Together with the Russian team, Nepryava won bronze medals in the women’s relay. A year later, at the World Championships, the Russian skier still took bronze in the skiathlon. In January of this year, Nerpryava became the first Russian skier in history to win the overall standings of the Tour de Ski multi-day race.
Video: MATCH TV
The favorite in the Olympic skiathlon is currently 14-time world champion Teresa Johaug, however, due to Beijing’s complex onboarding process, the weight may be given increased levels of difficulty in thinking. Yohaug missed the last Olympics due to the WADA application. Skiers Frida Karlsson and Ebba Anderson are also available as competitors to Nepryaeva.
Kamila Valieva (figure skating)
Russian girls from the Sochi Olympics are leaders in international figure skating. There is no doubt that one of the Russians will take the gold medal in women’s single skating for the third Olympiad in a row. The current champion Alina Zagitova and vice-champion Evgenia Medvedeva have been exceptional in artistic productions for two years already and went to Beijing with the journalists of Channel One. However, almost immediately after their departure from professional sports, experts began to be called the Olympic champion – Kamila Valieva.
In Beijing, the 15-year-old child prodigy from Kazan received the status of the winner of all youth skates, the Grand Prix in figure skating, and the champions of Russia and Europe. At the moment, Camila holds the world record for the short program, the pursuit program, and the record for the combined program. Despite her success in reaching the European Championship program, Camila is the absolute favorite in women’s singles. The path with the open “Bolero” should reach Olympic gold and go down in the history of figure skating. Surprisingly, it is the 15-year-old Valieva who is the star and “wild card” of the entire Russian team at the Beijing Olympics.
Video: Channel One
Maxim Burov (freestyle)
The Russian freestyler took two gold medals at the World Freestyle and Snowboard Championships in Alma-Ata in individual and team acrobatics. Two years earlier, Burov became the world champion. Maxim also took the small world cup in the acrobatics program in the 2017/2018 and 2020/2021 seasons.
Video: FIS Freestyle
This year, the Russian has earned all four principles for the development of the World Cup, including participation. He placed second and sixth in the team acrobatics competition. The main competitors for him are currently Chinese athletes, but there is every chance that sports athletes in the specialty will be assigned a triumphant result of the last championship with two gold medals in acrobatics.
Vadim Shipachev (ice hockey)
Competitions in Beijing are already the owners of games that do not involve hockey players from the NHL. Therefore, the star of the continental hockey league has every chance to prove himself at the Olympics. One of them is Dynamo Moscow striker and captain of the Russian national team Vadim Shipachev. In past games, the forward played in one game. But over the previous three seasons, Shipachev averaged 67 points each. In this case, the forward has already scored 67 points (24 goals and 43 assists), and the season is not over yet. The closest pursuer of forward Andrei Kuzmenko from SKA will receive 15 points. At this rate, the captain of “Dynamo” Vadim Shipachev can become the “wild card” of the national team in attack.
Video: Youtube channel Wolf Hockey
“The guys respect Shipachyov. Vadim deserved a lot of things, he had a great conversation at this event. I think he deservedly became the captain of the team. This is a huge part and responsibility. I have no doubt that he is up to the role of team captain and is ready to lead the national team for himself, ”said Ilya Kovalchuk, general manager of the Russian national team, in an interview with RBC Sport.