VIENNA (AP) - Austria will send 105 athletes to the Pyeongchang Olympics, 25 fewer than four years ago when its hockey team qualified for the Sochi Games.
The Austrian Olympic Committee nominated 65 men and 40 women on Monday. It’s the third time Austria will have a Winter Olympics team of more than 100 athletes after Nagano in 1998 (105) and Sochi in 2014 (130).
The AOC named Alpine skier Anna Veith as the country’s flagbearer for the Feb. 9 opening ceremony. Competing under her maiden name Fenninger, she won gold in super-G and silver in giant slalom four years ago.
Since then, Veith won two overall World Cup titles and two world championship titles but also missed more than a full year because of knee injuries.
AOC president Karl Stoss said he had “no expectations” regarding the number of medals Austria could win in South Korea.
“Obviously we would be very glad if we can come close to our achievement from Sochi,” Stoss said, referring to the 17 medals, including four golds, Austria won four years ago.
Not all 105 team members are known. Six Alpine skiers and one Nordic combined athlete will be nominated after World Cup events this week.
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