It is a natural desire of any country to perform worthily at the upcoming Sochi Olympics and receive the maximum number of medals. That is why the strongest athletes are selected for the Olympics. Russia is no exception. How is the Russian Olympic team formed, and who gets the honorary right to join it?
The general principles for the selection of Russian athletes to participate in the Olympic Games are established and approved by the President of the Russian Olympic Committee long before the opening of the Olympics. At the same time, for each sport, taking into account its specifics and the requirements of international regulations, a separate selection system is used.
Primary requirements
First of all, in order to get into the Olympic team, each athlete must successfully complete the qualification program established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or score a sufficient number of points in the qualification system. It should be noted that this requirement does not apply to all sports. Another important selection criterion is the worthy performance of an athlete at significant competitions: world championships, World Cup competitions, European Cup competitions, Russian championships and others.
In some cases, an athlete may or may not be included in the Olympic team at the discretion of the coaching staff. Also, by decision of the coaching staff, promising athletes who missed the sports season or did not show decent results for a good reason can get into the national team. Moreover, this decision must be agreed with the IOC Executive Board.
In some sports, the sports qualification of the candidate becomes a mandatory requirement for getting into the national team. For example, in order to get into the main squad of the Russian national curling team, you must have a qualification of at least a master of sports.
Also, when selecting athletes for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, the state of health, the presence of injuries and diseases, the dynamics of sports achievements, the candidate's motivation, the experience of participating in international competitions, stress resistance, height and weight indicators are taken into account - everything that can affect the performance results. athlete.
Age restrictions
In a broad sense, the Olympic Games do not have an age limit for participants. Certain restrictions can only be established by the International Sports Federation (IF), focusing on the individual characteristics of a particular sport. There is no single approach to solving this issue among the IFs. In most cases, the minimum age for athletes is 16-18 years, the maximum is 40-50 years. However, some sports do not have any age restrictions.
