Worldwide athletes from a record 88 countries are set to compete in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, a record for the Winter Olympics previously set at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Today the IOC released the final list of national Olympic committees that will be participating in the Sochi Games, which open Friday.
The previous record set at the 2010 Vancouver Games was 82 national teams.
Among those competing in the Winter Games for the first time is the southern African nation of Zimbabwe, represented by Alpine skier Luke Steyn.
Togo and Morocco have also qualified for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and 3 athletes from India will be competing as “independent participants” under the Olympic flag.
Their national Olympic committee is still suspended by the IOC pending election of new officials.
In total, around 3,000 athletes will be competing in the 2014 Sochi Olympics in 98 medal events.
U.S. athletes who are arriving for the Winter Games say they feel safe, witnessing the unprecedented amount of security at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
An estimated 100,000 police, agents and army troops are on hand in response to militant groups threatening to attack during the next few weeks.
“As far as safety over here, I’m looking at it from the standpoint of a soldier,” U.S. bobsled member Dallas Robinson told Fox News. Robinson is also a sergeant in the Kentucky National Guard. “A lot of our soldiers are in combat zones where there’s hundreds of thousands of people who don’t want them there, people that are headhunting. We’re in an area where there’s hundreds of thousands of people protecting us.
“I feel pretty safe.”
