Ahead of the grand opening of the 7th Military World Games in the Chinese city of Wuhan, many national teams are already in the final stages of the acclimatization.  

The Russian team was one of the first to arrive. They are considered among the top favorites as they've so far won three championship titles in team competitions. The team consists only of professional athletes that are members of the famous military sports team, the CSKA.  

Ekaterina Khuraskina is one of them. We met her at the huge CSKA sports complex on the outskirts of Moscow. Khuraskina is not only a modern pentathlon world and European champion, but also a lieutenant in the Russian military.  

As a CSKA member, she has contributed to recent team success with quite a few medals. In Wuhan, she'll try once again to meet the expectations from her team members, and the entire Russian military. Her coach, Major Igor Bondarev, also confirms that the expectations are high, and that there is huge responsibility on Ekaterina's shoulders.

"From a realistic point of view, we expect to be among the top three. Bronze medal is the minimal expectation. But we athletes are superstitious people, and in pentathlon not everything depends just on the athlete. In horse riding, it is a draw that decides which horse we'll have, and we'll have to hope that luck will be on our side," Bondarev said. 

At the CSKA sports center, we met Ekaterina while she practiced pistol shooting, but the modern pentathlon also includes running, horse riding, swimming, and her favorite – fencing.

Pentathlon is not a sport with a significant fan base, but Ekaterina hopes that in Wuhan, there will be great support from those who appreciate this difficult sport. 

"It is a wonderful feeling, when a lot of people are there supporting me, and that always helps me. It is very hard when nobody watches the competitions, particularly with modern pentathlon where there are not too many fans." 

"When major events are happening, like the Olympics, with a lot of spectators, it is like a big festival for me," Ekaterina said to CGTN.

Getting in shape just in time for the Wuhan games was one of her top priorities. That's why she and the entire Russian team arrived there one week before the competitions start. They did it to adapt to the local weather and different time zone.  

As we were told by Lt. Col. Oleg Parkhomenko, deputy head of the CSKA, the Russians didn't had any second thoughts on what facilities to expect. 

"These World Military games are like a true festival for us. Festival of sports, festival of great relations. We don't have any doubt that tournament organizers are doing a great job and we are confident that the tournament in China will be the best in the history of these military games."

Yet, festival or not, nobody doubts that when the games start, Russian team members will give their best to prove that they are among the best.