SOCHI, February 6 (R-Sport) – Fears of jinxing their performances are keeping the young and inexperienced Russian Olympic athletes away from the world's media in the run-up to the Sochi Winter Games, the country's sports minister said Thursday.
For at least the third Games running, the Russians are conspicuously absent from the list of daily press conferences sent to reporters at the Main Press Center ahead of the competition.
"It's linked to nerves about their performances," Vitaly Mutko said. "But no athletes are forbidden from speaking to the press," he added.
Mutko noted that Russian national television and radio had conducted exhaustive interviews with nearly all 225 members of the host nation's team in the months ahead of the Games.
"There have also been open training sessions, where the sportsmen are free to give interviews, so we are not closed to the media," Mutko said.
The minister said Russia is shooting for medals in 11 of the 15 sports in Sochi. In Vancouver, four years ago, Russia won only six medals.
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