MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti) - Rossiiskaya Gazeta features an interview with Leonid Tyagachyov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee. The questions mainly concern the "chances" of the Russian national team at the Athens Olympics, which opens in two weeks' time. Tyagachyov gives very high marks for Russian athletes' readiness to compete in all Olympic events. The president is confident that the Russians can win 30 gold medals in Athens. He stressed that this forecast is based on purely sporting performance.
Tyagachyov considers fans' mood to be very important for keeping up the national team's combative spirit. He urged them "not to despair" in the first week of the Games, since the medals contested in the initial stage will not be in Russia's strongest disciplines.
"We will collect the main harvest of medals nearer the end of the Games," was the assurance given by the president of the Russian Olympic Committee.
