MOSCOW, January 16, Oleg Bogatov. Russian team bobsledders won for the first time in history three medals at the European Championship, the pilot Rostislav Gaytyukevich at the Olympic Games in Beijing will compete for prizes, said the head coach of the national team Pavel Shcheglovsky. On Sunday, Gaytyukevich's four took third place at the European Championship held in St. stage of the World Cup. On Saturday, Gaytyukevich's pair became the bronze medalist of the competition, Nadezhda Sergeeva achieved similar success on a monobob. The Olympics will take place on February 4-20. «We have never had such a good result — three medals at the European Championships,» Shcheglovsky said. «Of course, we were pleased with three bronze medals, but at the same time we are upset that we failed to maximum quotas for participation in the Olympic Games. In Beijing, two crews will compete in men's doubles and quadruples, two in women's doubles and one in the monobob tournament. The team will be announced later, when we receive official data from the international federation. «Rostislav Gaytyukevich will our main hope at the Olympics, — says the source of the agency. — He is progressing with each stage of the World Cup, he has good crews, and he shows a quick start. And in the pre-Olympic week on the track in China, he took third place in twos and fifth in fours. We hope that Gaytyukevich will be able to compete for prizes at the Olympic Games.»
