MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) - Military personnel make up almost half of the Russian team that will compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a senior military official said Thursday.
Col. Igor Konashenkov, an aide to Russia's Ground Forces commander, said 201 of the 467 athletes in the team came from the armed forces.
"The Russian Olympic team has 201 Russian Armed Forces service personnel, including 76 representatives of the Ground Forces," Konashenkov said.
The military official added that at the Athens Games in 2004 members of Russia's military won 66 of the team's 92 medals.
The Beijing Olympic Games open Friday and continue through August 24.(IMAGE GALLERIES)
