“I am fully aware of the power of one’s will on the road to victory. This drive to win helped me to come back to sports and to become a gold medalist at the World Championships and the Paralympic Winter Games. When there is a goal and a strong desire to reach this goal, then victory is almost certain. Russia faces a long road to winning the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2014. I am confident that Russia’s will to host the Games for the first time in history and the outstanding legacy that this represents for the country will give them the power to overcome any hurdles ahead.“

Mikhail Terentiev is a certified Biathlon Master of Sports, the General Secretary of the Russian Paralympic Committee, the World Champion for biathlon and ski racing in 1996, and a gold, silver and bronze medalist of the Paralympic Winter Games.

Mikhail Terentiev started ski jumping in 1984, but soon stopped practicing due to a thoracic spinal injury in 1986. Following a rehabilitation program, Terentiev earned a degree in Economics from the Krasnoyarsk University in 1993 and started training in Paralympic sports.

Terentiev's first experience with the Paralympic Winter Games came in Lillehammer in 1994, and he won his first gold medal at the World Championship for ski racing and biathlon in 1996. Terentiev's road to glory brought him to Nagano in 1998, where he won two silver medals and one bronze medal at the Paralympic Winter Games. The Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 also showcased his growing success, earning three medals, one gold medal for the 10 km distance, two silver medals for the 5 and 15 km distances.

Terentiev's exemplary career continued for the 2002/2003 season, as a bronze medalist in the World Cup's overall standing. For the 2003/2004 World Cup season, he was a silver medalist for ski racing, and in 2004/2005, a bronze medalist. Most recently he took the bronze medal in the biathlon at the Paralympic Winter Games in Turin in 2006. Also a summer sport star, Terentiev won the bronze prize at the European Track and Field Championships for the 100, 200 and 400 meter distances. That same year, Terentiev entered the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mikhail Terentiev was born in 1970 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

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