Russia to announce next week its national team’s roster for 2022 Winter Olympic Games

MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The final roster of the Russian Olympians bound for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing will be announced next week, while the extended roster currently lists 217 athletes, a source close to the situation told TASS on Thursday. "Russia’s extended roster currently lists 217 athletes," the source said. "The team’s final roster will be announced on January 24 after the national ice hockey and freestyle skiing teams are confirmed." Andrey Konokotin, the head of the Russian team’s mission to the Olympics-2022 with the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), said earlier in the day that an overall number of the country’s delegation, bound for the upcoming Games in China, would list 509 people. "Russia will be represented in all sports tournaments," Konokotin was quoted as saying by the official ROC website. "In all, the Olympic delegation will list 509 people, including athletes, coaches, assisting staff, members of the ROC, FMBA [the Russian Federal Micro-Biological Agency] and the staff of the operative headquarters." "The ROC’s extended roster includes 217 athletes - 98 females and 119 males from 27 regions of the country. Twelve Olympic champions from the previous Games are on the list as well. However, all-mentioned above figures are not final." 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in the Chinese capital of Beijing are scheduled to be held from February 4-20, while the Paralympic Winter Games will be held on March 4-13. During the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015, Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games making the Chinese capital the first city ever to host both the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2008) as well as the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2022). Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics in a tight race, beating Kazakhstan’s Almaty in 2015, by chalking up 44 votes against its rival’s 40. Read more