MOSCOW, May 20 AP - Russia selected Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov on Thursday to head its troubled Olympic committee just two months after President Dmitry Medvedev cleaned house in the wake of the country’s disastrous performance in Vancouver.
Zhukov, a seasoned official with vast experience in finance and budget policy, was the only candidate in the closed ballot and received 204 of the 213 votes cast by Olympic committee members. Five votes were against and four were ruled invalid. 
As deputy to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Zhukov is expected to wield his influence to better coordinate efforts between Russia’s disparate sports authorities, which include a ministry and dozens of sports federations.
Russia won only 15 medals at the Vancouver Olympics, including three golds - its worst result ever - prodding Medvedev and many lawmakers to call for the resignation of the country’s top sports officials.
Zhukov’s predecessor, Leonid Tyagachev, resigned in March.
As deputy premier, Zhukov has overseen construction and preparations for the 2014 Winter games in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
He will be under intense pressure to ensure a successful showing for Russia in the 2012 Summer games in London.
I will try to coordinate work of all power structures,'' he said in a speech before the vote. In the future (the Olympic committee) should become the single home for all sports federations.’’
While presenting his program for reviving Russia’s Olympic movement, Zhukov stressed that sports officials needed to pay more attention to athletes.
``Athletes are a national treasure - we need to take care of them,’’ he said.
One of his proposals will be to open an Olympic health clinic where athletes could receive improved services and recover from serious injuries. He also said more propaganda work was needed to persuade young people to take up sports.