The biathlon track for the Olympic Games...

The women"s biathletes are to compete for the first medals on the 7.5-km sprint, which is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. local time [GMT: 22:00 Friday].

"We held our pre-competition training in very difficult conditions," Barnashov said, adding: "To be honest, the Olympic track conditions right now are not the best."

He said that the women"s team was forced to practice in slush because of the constant rainfall and because the men"s team had trained before them, leaving the track in bad condition.

Barnashov said the organizers have promised to pack the track with fresh snow and bring it to satisfactory conditions before the competitions begin on Saturday.

MOSCOW, February 13 (RIA Novosti)