Up to 235 Russian athletes will participate in the Sochi Winter Olympics, President of the National Olympics Committee Alexander Zhukov said Friday.

"As of today, 218 athletes from Russia have qualified for the Olympics," Zhukov told reporters.

Thus, the Russian team will be the largest one ever participating in the Winter Olympics. In Vancouver in 2010, Russian team consisted of 177 athletes.

The composition of the team will be finalized by the end of January, Zhukov said.

Entire Russian delegation will consist of about 470 people -- athletes, auxiliary staff and officials combined.

The 22nd Winter Olympics are slated for Feb. 7-23, 2014 with 98 sets of medals to be contested.

The Russian government has allocated 120,000 U.S. dollars for gold medal winners, 76,000 dollars for silver and 52,000 for bronze.