Baltic athletes compete in Vancouver

VANCOUVER - The 2010 Winter Olympic Games have begun in Vancouver, Canada, with almost 100 athletes from the Baltic States taking part.

Latvia has sent one of its largest delegations ever to the Games, with 58 athletes taking part in 9 sports. Estonia has sent a total of 30 athletes to the Games, while the Lithuanian delegation consists of 6 athletes.

The majority of the Estonian athletes will take part in the cross country ski events, where the country managed to earn 3 medals in the last Winter Games. There will also be a large biatholon delegation from the country.

Latvia will send the most athletes in the events of luge, bobsleigh, biatholon and hockey. Though the country has by far the largest delegation from the Baltics, its chances of winning a medal have been greatly diminished by some of the top athletes already failing to win a place on the podium

Lithuania's 6 athletes will take part in cross-country skiing, alpine skiing and biatholon.

None of the three Baltic States have so far been able to win a medal. Latvia's Haralds Silovs has made Winter Olympics history, however, by becoming the first skater to race in both long track and short track races at a single Games.

Even more impressive, Silovs competed in the two events in a single day, racing a total of nearly 10 kilometers. He finished in 20th place in the long track event and 4th in the short track - just missing out on a medal opportunity.