To Alexander Zhukov,
President of the Russian Olympic Committee
Dear Alexander Dmitrievich,
The Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro have concluded and we would like to thank the ROC and you personally for the efforts, thanks to which the Russian Olympic team received the opportunity to take part in them.
We know that up until the last moment there was a real threat that all Russian athletes would be banned from the Olympics, as it was urged by a number of foreign politicians and organizations. The wave of negativity, produced by foreign media, even affected some of our colleagues, athletes that we know for many years, who have never had any problems.
It is very important that together we have defended the right to perform at the Olympics, as we strove for it for several years. And many of us were lucky enough to realize the cherished dream – to win Olympic medals. Years of hard work were not in vain, we gave joy to our family, friends and fans, we have become part of our country’s great sports history and we can be proud of it.
We would also like to thank all members of the Russian delegation headquarters staff, who did everything possible and more to create the most favorable conditions for us in the Olympic Village and at the competitions, and to solve all the emerging problems efficiently and promptly.
We would like to highlight the work of the Medical Center, established by the ROC and those professionals who were doing a fantastic job daily. Without exaggeration we can say that as for the recovery procedures, prevention and treatment of injuries and damages, everything was at the highest level. Thus our victories should be largely credited to our doctors and therapists.
We believe that the success of the Olympic team in Rio has been made possible thanks to the joint efforts of our athletes, our coaches, specialists who worked with us, those who rooted for each of us and those who were responsible for the team as a whole. The ROC defended our right to perform at the Olympics and we tried to take full advantage of this right, as well as of the chance of a lifetime.
Respectfully yours,
Irina Bliznova, Captain of the Russian National Handball team, on behalf of the team.
Ekaterina Prokofieva, Captain of the Russian National Water Polo team, on behalf of the team.
Roman Vlasov, Captain of the Russian National Wrestling team, on behalf of the team.
Andrei Rodionenko, Head Coach of the Russian National Gymnastics team, on behalf of the team.
Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina on behalf of the Russian National Synchronized Swimming team.
Alexander Lesun on behalf of the Russian National Modern Pentathlon team.
Irina Zenovka, Head Coach of the Russian National Rhythmic Gymnastics team, on behalf of the team.
Evgeny Tishchenko on behalf of the Russian National Boxing team.
Yuri Kucheryaviy, CEO of the Russian National Cycling team, on behalf of the team.
Vladimir Salnikov, President of Russian Swimming Federation, on behalf of the Russian National Swimming team.
Valentin Habirov, Vice-President of the Russian Judo Federation, on behalf of the Russian National Judo team.
Sergey Tetyukhin on behalf of the Russian National Volleyball team.
