Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov is hopeful of playing for Russia at the London Olympics despite an ankle injury that is preventing him from training, he told R-Sport in a recent interview.
Mozgov, the only Russian playing in the NBA, hurt his ankle at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Caracas, Venezuela, earlier this month, and missed an open training session Thursday to allow the injury extra time to heal.
“My leg’s worrying me. I didn’t manage to completely heal after Caracas, but I want to for the Olympics,” he said Thursday, adding that an MRI scan had showed nothing serious.
“You try to get back in the team quicker, when overall you need to take a break, you’ll just suffer more. I think everything will be fine.”
Russia is to face Australia, Brazil, China, Britain and Spain in the Olympic group stage, which Mozgov said represented a tough test.
“The group’s not weak, for one thing the Spanish and the Brazilians are worth something,” he said.
“I don’t know China, but it’s the Olympics anyway and everyone will be fighting to the very end.”
Russia played Britain as part of their preparations for the qualifying tournament, winning 76-54 in Texas.
