OREANDA-NEWS. March 09, 2012. While visiting Sochi, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the start of several athletes and also spoke with referees and Irina Gromova, the head trainer of the Russian national cross-country skiing and biathlon team, as well as other trainers.

The prime minister tried his hand at cross-country shooting from the prone position using both a standard biathlon rifle and a rifle for visually impaired athletes, which emits an audio signal when the weapon is aimed correctly.