Putin wants Russia to boost its Olympic performance

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia was hoping to win more medals in Beijing than it had in the past three Olympics but made no reference to a string of drug scandals involving Russian athletes.

Sports victories and an assertive foreign policy are major elements in Kremlin efforts to consolidate domestic political power on the back of an eight-year economic boom while Putin was president.

"I will remind you that in the last three Olympic Games ... our team has won 243 medals," Putin, who backed the election of his successor Dmitry Medvedev in May, said in an interview with the Chinese media posted on the government's Internet site.

"We believe that in Beijing we will be able not only to repeat but to exceed this success," said Putin, who will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games on Friday.

Putin played a key role in winning Russia's right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Eleven Russian athletes have been expelled or suspended recently from international competition on suspicion of doping, with seven thrown out of the Beijing team in the past week.

Five Beijing-bound track and field athletes were banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations last Thursday for manipulating their urine samples.

Cyclist Vladimir Gusev will not compete in Beijing after his professional team said out-of-competition tests showed abnormal blood levels.