The figure includes significant increased funding to help Russian athletes prepare for Sochi.

Under the scheme announced by Putin at a special Parliamentary session dedicated to the development of sport in Russia, the average monthly allowance for athletes will jump from the current figure of between 12,000 and 20,000 rubles (£250-£420/$400-670) to an average 80,000 rubles (£1,700/$2,770).

The minimum allowance will be 35,000 rubles (£720/$1,170) and the maximum, for the top stars, 120,000 rubles (£2,500/$4,000).

Sports medicine funding will be also significantly increased this year, Putin said, with 2.5 billion rubles (£52.2 million/$83.4 million) allocated for this purpose against last year's 130 million rubles (£2.7 million/$4.3 million).

"Each athlete on the Russian national team training for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi must have their own personal medical programme," said Putin.

Russia is still recovering from last year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver where the team suffered their worst-ever performance, finishing only 11th in the overall medals table.

They won only 15 medals, three of them gold, and finished below the Netherlands in the medals table - Russia's worst performance in the Winter Olympics since Lillehammer in 1994 when they competed under their own banner following the break-up of the Soviet Union.

To coincide with the announcement of the new funding deal, Putin visited the Novogorsk training centre on the outskirts of Moscow where he met members of Russia's national junior hockey team, who recently won the World Junior Championships.



He also met Russia's women's junior hockey team, who greeted him by pounding their sticks against the ice.

Putin then reminded them of what was expected from them at Sochi.

"In Sochi, we need to win," he told them.

Putin also visited various ice arenas and the curling rink.

Next year, another area of the complex is due to completed that will include facilities for athletes, rhythmic gymnastics and football, as well as a pool for swimming.

Putin has declared 2011 the "Year of Sports" in Russia and is planning to spend 39.5 billion rubles (£820 million/$1.3 billion) on not only improving the performances of the country's elite competitors but also encouraging ordinary citizens to take up sport.

He has set the target that by 2015 more than 42 million Russians will be taking part in sport on a regular basis.

"Currently some 25 million people regularly go to gyms and stadiums in our country," said Putin.

"In line with our plans, this number must exceed 42 million by 2015 and in the longer term we need to reach the levels already achieved by many European countries, where some 70 percent of the population is regularly engaged in sporting activity."

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