Moldovan Olympic competitors head for Vancouver

The first group of athletes and coaches on Wednesday morning were seen off to Vancouver, where they will participate in the XXI Winter Olympic Games during February 12-28, Info-Prim Neo reports. The delegation consists of biathlete Victor Pynzaru, the skiers Alexandra Camenscic and Sergiu Balan, sledger Bogdan Macovei, and the coaches Valentin Ciumac and Vasile Bejenariu. The Moldovan Olympic competitors declared they will do their utmost to achieve maximal results in each event, while their families hope that the athletes will return home with medals. Another athlete that will represent Moldova in the Games, Natalia Levcenkova, is already in Vancouver. The Swiss-born skiers, Urs Imboden and Christophe Roux, will join in on February 17. Biathlete Victor Pynzaru was chosen as Moldova's flag bearer, who will turn 18 one day before the opening ceremony on February 12. The head of the Moldovan Olympic mission for the upcoming Winter Games is Grigore Popovici, the secretary-general of the National Olympic committee (NOC). NOC president Nicolae Juravschi said the preparations for the Games had a cost of about 2 million lei. Special financing was provided by the Ministry of Youth and Sports for the training of biathlete Natalia Levcenkova. Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat declared that the Government will reward the athletes that will win first to sixth places with prizes of €50k, €30k, €15k, €10k, €5k, and €3k, respectively. In the previous Winter Games in Turin, biathlete Natalia Levcenkova showed Moldova's best result in the winter sports by placing the 8th in the individual event. Experts say Natalia Levcenkova and Urs Imboden (alpine skiing) have the greatest chances of winning an Olympic medal.