Off-piste with Russia's female Olympians: Russia goes on the Sochi charm offensive with scantily clad photo-call of its athletes as you've never seen them before

The pictures showing the host team in racy underwear go viral in Moscow

Include a figure skater, curlers, ice hockey players, ski jumpers and more

A website boasts: 'Our sportswomen are best campaigners for Sochi team'

There are claims Russia will offer a cold welcome to the world at the Winter Olympics, but these images of some of the country's leading competitors suggests otherwise.

Until now, disputes about homophobia, world leaders refusing to attend, and mega-security at Sochi have overshadowed the preparations for the £31 billion Games.

The pictures showing the host team dressed to impress are going wild on the Moscow web with one site boasting: 'Russian sportswomen are the best campaigners for our team in Sochi.'



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Siberian-born Tatiana Borodulina, 29, from Omsk but now living in Australia, is a short track speed skater who has competed for her motherland since 2006

In action: Tatiana Borodulina skates at the Palavela stadium in Turin where she won four gold medals

The site - AdMe.ru - explains: 'We sincerely support our team and believe that its strength is not only in sports achievements.

'Our Russian Olympic team defies stereotype that women in sport are just a heap of muscles and masculine shapes.'

In the blood: Freestyle skier Ekaterina Stolyarova, 25, from Tomsk in Siberia, comes from a family famous in the sport. Her father Andrey Stolyarov is a merited freestyle coach, and her mother Marina a coach and international referee



Lifetime achiever: Stolyarova's first trip to the mountains was at six months old and she was skiing by two and a half

Curling hearts: Ekaterina Galkina, 25, from Moscow, was European champion in 2006 and Russia champion in 2005-2006

No nonsense: Ekaterina Galkina gives team mates instructions after she throws a stone in the match between Russia and USA at the Titlis Glacier Mountain World Women's Curling Championship in Riga, Latvia, last year

High hopes: Curler Alexandra Saitova, 21, twice won bronze in Russian curling championships in 2010 and 2011



Champion: Saitova also came away with a bronze in the Junior World Curling Championship in 2012

On show here are ice hockey forward Svetlana Kolmykova, 25, who plays for Tornado in Moscow region, and Skeleton star Elena Nikitina, 21, last year's champion in Europe and a former footballer.

Curler Alexandra Saitova, 21, twice won bronze in Russian curling championships in 2010 and 2011, and in 2012 came away with a bronze in the Junior World Curling Championship.



Figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova, 23, is a four times Russian champion with high hopes of a medal this year



European champ: Bobrova won the European championship in 2013 with partner Dmitry Solovyev

Off the ice: Ice hockey goalie Anna Prugova, 20, is from Khabarovsk in the Far East of Russia

Young talent: Prugova was, at the age of 16, the youngest competitor in her sport at the last Winter Olympics

Another curler Ekaterina Galkina, 25, also from Moscow, was European champion in 2006 and Russia champion in 2005-2006.

Another is ice hockey goalie Anna Prugova, 20, from Khabarovsk in the Far East of Russia, who then 16 was the youngest competitor in her sport at the last Winter Olympics.

Figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova, 23, is a four times Russian champion who with partner Dmitry Solovyev won the European championship in 2013.

She told Men's Health magazine in Russia: 'Every man should buy his woman an underwear - at least once first to check if he can figure out her breast size with his hands, and secondly to show her which knickers and bra he loves on her most.'

Mirror, mirror: Ice hockey forward Svetlana Kolmykova, 25, plays for Tornado in Moscow

Tough: Svetlana Kolmykova is known for her strength on the puck and powerful shots

Ski-jumper Irina Avvakumova, 22, from Leningrad near St Petersburg, has several national championship medals to her name

High calibre: Avvakumova was the overall winner of the 2012-13 Continental Cup

Ski-jumper Irina Avvakumova, 22, from Leningrad region near St Petersburg, has several national championship medals to her name and was the overall winner of the 2012-13 Continental Cup, while curling competitor Olga Zyablikova, 21, took bronze at the 2011 World Junior Curling Championship.

Cross country skier Maria Komissarova, 22, from St Petersburg, won a silver medal at the 2102 World Cup and is the Face of Russian Freestyle Skiing.

Anna Sidorova, 22, was a skater who took up curling after a leg injury. She won gold at the European Championship in 2012 and is a four times Russian champion.

Good curls: Olga Zyablikova, 21, is a curler who took bronze at the 2011 World Junior Curling Championship

Big hit: Zyablikova has been a big hit among sites promoting Russian Olympians

Out of the shadows: Cross country skier Maria Komissarova, 22, from St Petersburg, won a silver medal at the 2102 World Cup and is the Face of Russian Freestyle Skiing

Siberian-born Tatiana Borodulina, 29, from Omsk but now living in Australia, is a short track speed skater whop has competed for her motherland since 2006.

Freestyle skier Ekaterina Stolyarova, 25, from Tomsk in Siberia, comes from a family famous in the sport. Her father Andrey Stolyarov is a merited freestyle coach, and her mother Marina a coach and international referee.

Her first trip to the mountains was at six months old and she was skiing by two and a half.