Russia sending their smallest ever Olympic contingent to Rio 2016 Olympics

Russia will send their smallest ever Olympic contingent to the upcoming Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro since the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Russia will send their smallest ever Olympic contingent to the upcoming Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro since the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

A file photo showing the shadow of a man on the Olympic rings at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center. (AP Photo)

On Wednesday, the executive board of Russia’s National Olympic Committee endorsed the membership list of the team. It will file the application within two days with the International Olympic Committee.

The membership list contains the names of 387 athletes -- 201 men and 186 women. With the addition of coaches and officials, the overall size of the delegation exceeds 700 people.

Russia sent their biggest contingent -- 467 athletes -- to the Summer Games in Beijing in 2008. The Russian contingent at the 2004 Games in Athens totalled 457 sportspersons.

The country sent 438 participants to the Summer Games in London in 2012.

The Russian contingent at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, the first for the Russian sports world after the disintegration of the USSR, totalled 408 athletes.