Zhukov replaces Leonid Tyagachev, who resigned in March in the wake of the team's disastrous performance at the Olympics in Vancouver earlier this year.

He said: "Our goals are ambitious, but achievable.

"We must make use of the unique advantages that hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games provides us with."

Russia finished only 11th in the medals table earlier this year in Vancouver, winning 15 medals, only three of which were gold.

Zhukov said: "In 2014, the Russian Olympic Committee must present the most competitive national team possible, with a selection of athletes capable of achieving the very top level of results and occupying a worthy position on the podium.

"We all understand that our success in hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be directly dependent on the successful performance of Russian athletes.

"Hosting the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi will create a unique legacy for high performance sport in Russia, allow it to become one of the priority areas in state policy, create a stable model for the management and financing of Russian sport and create a positive attitude to the Olympic Movement and Russia’s Olympic team in the mass media and amongst the general public.

"Impressive victories achieved by Russian athletes at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will provide unlimited opportunities for the Russian Olympic Committee to set a positive example for young people , increase the popularity of sport, healthy  lifestyles and promote Olympic values.

"In promoting the achievements of the Russian Olympic team, we must show the true heroes in whom our country should take pride.

"The Russian Olympic Committee must do everything it can to attain first place for Russia in the total medal table rankings in 2014."

Zhukov, who is overseeing Sochi's preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics, wants the team's performance to go hand-in-hand with Russia putting on the best Winter Games ever.

He said: "It must successfully promote the idea involving Russian people in the project of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in our country.

"Seventy-six percent of Russians are already proud of the fact that the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be held in Sochi - what’s more, among youngsters aged 14-19 the figure is actually 83 percent.

"We do not have the right to disappoint them."

The appointment of Zhukov, who was the only candidate, was welcomed by Dmitry Chernyshenko, the President and chief executive of Sochi 2014.

He said: "It is with great pleasure that we welcome Mr Zhukov as the new President of the Russian Olympic Committee.

"Mr Zhukov has been involved with Sochi 2014 from the start and has always been a very strong advocate of Russia’s first Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. 

"His extensive experience of sport in Russia and knowledge of the Olympic Movement make him an ideal President of the Russian Olympic Committee.

"Today’s appointment will open a new page in the history of the development of both elite and grass roots sport in Russia."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected] 


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