Dmitry Medvedev: "There has simply never been an event like this in the modern history of our country that has consolidated our nation and united our people so much."
Ceremony for medalists in the XXII Olympic Games
With two-time speed skating bronze medalist at the XXII Olympic Games Olga Graf
With speed skating bronze medalist at the XXII Olympic Games Yekaterina Lobysheva
With speed skating bronze medalist at the XXII Olympic Games Yuliya Skokova
With speed skating bronze medalist at the XXII Olympic Games Yekaterina Shikhova
With silver medalist in the luge at the XXII Olympic Games Vladislav Antonov
With two-time silver medalist in the luge at the XXII Olympic Games Albert Demchenko
With biathlon silver medalist at the XXII Olympic Games Olga Zaitseva
With Olympic figure skating champion Yekaterina Bobrova
With two-time Olympic snowboarding champion Vic Wild
With two-time Olympic figure skating champion Tatiana Volosozhar
With Olympic champion and figure skating bronze medalist at the XXII Olympic Games Yelena Ilyinykh
With Olympic champion and figure skating bronze medalist at the XXII Olympic Games Nikita Katsalapov
With Olympic figure skating champion Adelina Sotnikova
With Olympic skeleton champion Alexander Tretyakov
With Olympic champion and figure skating silver medalist at the XXII Olympic Games Ksenia Stolbova
With two-time Olympic bobsleigh champion Alexei Voyevoda
A gift to the Prime Minister, autographed by the medalists of the XXII Olympic Winter Games
Cars presented to the medalists of the XXII Olympic Winter Games
With Olympic figure skating champion Yulia Lipnitskaya
Ceremony for medalists in the XXII Olympic Games
The Prime Minister attended a ceremony held by the Russian Olympians Foundation, where medalists in the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi were presented with automobiles. Dmitry Medvedev is the chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
Opening remarks by Dmitry Medvedev:
Congratulations!
Much is being said now about the results of the Olympics and the brilliant performance of our athletes.
I would like to bring one thing to your attention. Every nation experiences sad, even tragic, moments at times that unite people. There are also other moments that are emotionally charged, powerful and very pleasant. Our Olympics and your performance is exactly such a moment. Frankly, there has simply never been an event like this in the modern history of our country that has consolidated our nation and united our people so much. For this alone, I would like to give a big thank you to all of you on behalf of the Government and everyone who was involved in the Olympic preparations.
Dmitry Medvedev: "Every nation experiences sad, even tragic, moments at times that unite people. There are also other moments that are emotionally charged, powerful and very pleasant. Our Olympics and your performance is exactly such a moment."
We know how precious such moments are. For you, it’s a personal success. For the country, it’s the success of the entire nation. I believe any person can think of several such special moments when he or she was proud of their country. You gave us this feeling of pride, and did so at a time when the Olympics took place in our country. This makes it even more precious. Probably, most of our people were looking forward to your victories. Probably, the most serious optimists believed that at home, we’d do much better than we did at other Olympics. But probably, nobody even dreamt of what you’ve accomplished. Strictly speaking, there have been just four cases in the history of the Olympic movement when the host country had the highest team medal score. This happened in Lake Placid in 1932, in Norway in 1952, then (relatively recently) in Vancouver, Canada, and now we've done it in Russia. So you are our heroes and you’ve done really well.
In the last few years we’ve created a fairly good system of support for sport (it is not ideal but still much better than what we had 10-15 years ago), including the Russian Olympians Foundation. The Foundation has existed for nine years now, and I remember how it all began. During these years we’ve managed to compile, with the help of our sponsors – our business people who love sport – almost a billion roubles, which have gone toward payments to athletes, coaches and specialists. Many of those present also receive grants from this foundation.
Today we have a very good opportunity simply to recall the recent Olympics. I’m sure that this is a pleasure for the absolute majority of our people. They smile at the thought of the Games. As the chairman of the Board of Trustees of this foundation, I have a pleasant duty to carry out: giving you the keys to your new cars. This is a prize that is never out of place.
Dmitry Medvedev: "In the last few years we’ve created a fairly good system of support for sport, including the Russian Olympians Foundation. The Foundation has existed for nine years now. During these years we’ve managed to compile, with the help of our sponsors – our business people who love sport – almost a billion roubles, which have gone toward payments to athletes, coaches and specialists."
Dear friends, let me congratulate you, and all of us, on our victory once again! These were happy moments, and I’m sure there is much to look forward to in the future as well. Congratulations!
Dmitry Medvedev’s closing remarks:
Dmitry Medvedev: I’ve conducted many ceremonies, presenting government awards and various other pleasant things… But I’m particularly pleased to be here today because we sincerely shared your emotions, admiring what you’ve done for us, for the country. It’s so cool that you’ve accomplished all this in Russia – just wonderful! Congratulations once again!
Alexei Voyevoda (two-time Olympic bobsleigh champion): I’d like to thank all the organisers of this truly fantastic event on behalf of all athletes. Honestly, it's wonderful to receive a car as a present. On behalf of all athletes I’d like to present you with… Well, this isn't exactly a fair trade – keys to cars for a photo with autographs – but each signature contains a piece of our emotions, the happiness that we've received from all of this. Thank you very much. We bow deeply to you.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you.
