By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

May 20 - Alexander Zhukov (pictured right) will today be formally installed as the new President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), replacing Leonid Tyagachev, who resigned in March in the wake of the team's disastrous performance at the Olympics in Vancouver.



Zhukov, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister who has been overseeing preparations for the 2014 Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi, is the only candidate.

The 53-year-old, a graduate of Moscow University and Harvard University in the United States, is the deputy chairman of the supervisory committee of the Russian Chess Federation.

Russia finished a relatively lowly 11th in the overall medals table in Vancouver, winning just 15 medals, only three of which were gold, the team's worst performance since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has already set out what Zhukov's goal must be.

Putin's adviser Rostislav Murzagulov said: "The task is set clearly: first place in overall medals table in Sochi is a successful result, second - unsuccessful, third - an epic failure."

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