RIA Novosti Roundup -- St. Petersburg 2024; Sochi Closing Ceremonies

Russian Olympic Chief: St. Petersburg a 'Serious Contender' for 2024

The head of Russia's Olympic Committee said Saturday that St. Petersburg would be a "serious contender" to host the 2024 Summer Games.

Even before Russia hosts its first Winter Olympics in Sochi next year, talk has already turned to a possible St. Petersburg bid for the Summer Games another decade away. As the Sochi torch relay visited St. Petersburg late last month, the idea was pushed by mayor Georgy Poltavchenko, who said his city could be an Olympic host "in the very near future."

And on Saturday, Zhukov said any chances the city had hinged on Sochi's success.

"St. Petersburg can be a serious contender to stage the 2024 Olympics," he said. "At least we need to be thinking about it. Although we can only take active steps (towards a bid) after successfully holding the Winter Games in Sochi."

Competition for 2024 edition is likely to be fierce, with the United States thought to be interested in a first Games since Salt Lake City in 2002 and the International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach saying this week he would welcome a bid from South Africa in 2024 or 2028.

Other cities considering a bid for 2024 include Rome and Boston, with officials in France, Germany and Canada also having expressed an interest.

St. Petersburg bid for the 2004 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated from the running early on. The only Russian city to host the Games was Moscow in 1980, when St. Petersburg held part of the football competition.

Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Games, with Tokyo next up in 2020. Bidding for 2024 will open in 2015.

Sochi Begins Casting for Olympic Medal Ceremony Girls

Authorities in the 2014 Olympic host city of Sochi have begun casting girls to present the prizes during the medal ceremonies, a spokeswoman said Friday.

About 113 assistants will be needed to present medals and flowers at more than 100 ceremonies at the Olympic Park on the Black Sea and in the mountains during the Olympics and Paralympics in February and March.

"It's a unique opportunity to genuinely be in the very center of the Games and see all the finals and all the winners with your own eyes," said Kristina Lichman, the casting coordination at the Sochi Volunteers Center.

Only women between 17 and 35 are eligible, and they must be at least 5'5'', or 1.7 meters tall, Lichman said. It's unclear how many applications have been received. Training in make-up and hair-styling for the lucky few begins on January 25, she added.

The Olympics run February 7-23, with the Paralympics March 7-16.

Speedskating Roundup: Viktor Ahn Shines in Adopted Homeland

Triple Olympic short-track speedskating champion Viktor Ahn won the 500 meters in his adopted home of Russia on Sunday to take the overall World Cup title for the distance and also won two more medals.

Ahn, a former South Korean star who took Russian citizenship two years ago, was followed by his teammate Vladimir Grigorev second in a powerful illustration of Russia's fast-growing short-track program ahead of hosting next year's Olympics in Sochi.

"Everything feels good," Ahn said. "We demonstrated a good result. I hope that at the Olympics the results will be even better."

The 2010 Olympic champion in the 500m, Charles Hamelin of Canada, could only manage 16th in the 500m, but recovered on Sunday to take gold at 1,000m, while France’s Thibaut Fauconnet finished second and Vancouver bronze medalist J.R. Celski of the United States was third.

Ahn claimed silver in the 1,500m behind Celski, and earned another silver medal in team pursuit.

Reigning overall world champion Sin Da Woon experienced a disappointing weekend, finishing seventh in the 1,500m and being eliminated in the heats in the 1,000m, his top disciplines.

Among the women, three-time Vancouver Olympic champion Meng Wang lost in the 1,000 m heats but then won her third consecutive final at 500m and led China to relay gold.

In the 1,500m event, Shim Suk Hee of South Korea claimed the World Cup title for the distance, beating Canada’s Valerie Maltais, while China’s Zhou Yang came in third. There was disappointment for Britain’s Elise Christie, the reigning European champion over the distance, who was seventh.

Christie improved later to take the bronze in 1,000m, finishing behind Arianna Fontana of Italy and Kin Alang of South Korea.

Russia's results ensured the country has the maximum Olympic quota of three skaters in each individual event in Sochi, an impressive feat for a country that has never before won an Olympic medal.

At the second round of the long-track World Cup in Salt Lake City, Vancouver Olympic champion Lee Sang-Hwa stole the limelight, beating her own world record at 500m twice in two days.

The 24-year-old Korean dropped another 38 decimals from the time she set last week in Calgary, stopping the clock at 36.36 seconds.

Another world record fell in the men’s team pursuit where the Netherlands set the bar at 3 minutes 35.60 seconds.

Other Sochi medal contenders burnished their credentials, with Ireen Wust of the Netherlands skated to gold at 1,500m and Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic took first place in the 3,000m.

Double Olympic champion Shani Davis has been battling financial problems after his sponsor left him, but skated his fastest time since 2009 to win the 1,500m and the 1,000m.

The third day of competition will see finals at 500m and 5,000m for the men and also the women's 1,000m and team pursuit.

Published by exclusive arrangement with Around the Rings’ Sochi 2014 media partner RIA-Novosti.

For general comments or questions,click here.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics isAroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.