The ceremony of awarding gold medallists with state decorations took place at Catherine’s Hall in the Kremlin. The state decorations were presented to the Olympians by Vladimir Putin.
– I am glad to congratulate you on your excellent performance at the XXIV Olympic Winter Games and present you with these state awards,” said the President of Russia as he opened the grand ceremony. “You certainly deserve them thanks to your talent, hard work, and devotion to sport and its ideals. Without any exaggeration, the brilliant, strong-willed victories of all our Olympians, Russian athletes, are the real decorations of the recent Winter Olympics. Many fans not only in our country, but all over the world watched these performances with admiration. You have proven once again that you are among the best in the world.
For the third Olympic event in a row, Russia has absolute leadership in women’s figure skating. The surprisingly beautiful, virtuoso elements of our female athletes remain unattainable for our rivals. The technically complex, expressive performances by Alexander Gallyamov and Anastasia Mishina, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, Mark Kondratyuk and Kamila Valieva struck a chord with spectators and judges alike and brought Russia another team gold medal. Thank God, refereeing in this regard was stable and objective, – added Vladimir Putin.
Figure skaters Kamila Valieva, Alexander Gallyamov, Nikita Katsalapov, Mark Kondratyuk, Anastasia Mishina and Victoria Sinitsina, as well as skiers Denis Spitsov, Veronika Stepanova and Alexei Chervotkin, received state decorations directly from the Head of State.
– Russian skiers have achieved outstanding success. First of all, I would like to note the long-awaited victories in relay races. As you know, the women’s team last became champions in 2006, and the men’s team — in 1980. And we have not had a simultaneous victory of both the women’s and men’s relay teams for exactly half a century. This, of course, is a great result. Furthermore, a gift to the fans was the confident, strong performance of our female athletes: Yulia Stupak, Tatiana Sorina, Natalia Nepryaeva, and Veronika Stepanova. Moreover, Veronica was also the youngest champion in cross-country skiing in the history of the Games. Our male athletes also followed suit: Sergei Ustyugov, Alexei Chervotkin, Denis Spitsov and Alexander Bolshunov performed brilliantly. I would like to note that Alexander amassed a great collection of Olympic awards in Beijing: he has three gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal, and the absolutely well-deserved symbolic nickname “King of Skis, – stressed Vladimir Putin.
The Head of State also personally congratulated Kamila Valieva on the occasion of her birthday as she turned 16 today.
– Kamila has imbibed all the most complex elements of figure skating, its plasticity, beauty, power and tenderness into her talent. With her work she brought the sport to the height of real art. Such perfection cannot be achieved dishonestly, with the help of some additional means, manipulations, and in figure skating all these additional means are not needed — we all understand and know this very well, – noted the President of the Russian Federation.
Veronika Stepanova, addressing Vladimir Putin, promised to continue to hold the banner of Russian sport on a high level.
– I was born in January 2001. Before my very eyes, Russia has become strong, proud and successful again. Obviously, not everyone in the world likes this, but I’m sure we will win, as we did at the Games. I am proud to receive an award from the hands of the President. You have raised our sports banner high. I promise we will continue to hold it on a high level, – she said.
In Beijing, Nikita Katsalapov, paired with Victoria Sinitsina, became a two-time Olympic champion. In addition, the dance duet won silver in the individual tournament. Now the skater has a full set of Olympic medals.
– I want to express my deepest gratitude to you for your support, faith in us and love for sports. We felt how the whole country was rooting for us, and it was important to win awards of the highest standard. Russia is a great country and despite all the obstacles, we will continue to perform and win. Thanks to everyone who cheered for us, prayed for us and kept their fingers crossed, – the athlete stated.
Victoria Sinitsina agreed wholeheartedly with her partner.
– The Games in Beijing were very difficult due to many restrictions. But throughout the entire preparation and the competition itself, the right conditions were created for us, for which we are very grateful. Most importantly, we managed to return home with victorious medals. This is very important to us, – she said.
After honoring the gold medallists, Vladimir Putin met with the silver and bronze medallists of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games.
– Your victories are an inspiring example for millions of people. It is highly significant for our entire society, for our youth, who are learning to be as resilient and dedicated as you are, as determined to persevere towards their goal and achieve the highest success, the highest results, to be the best. But of course, for any athlete, the pinnacle of his career is winning the gold medal. However, winning either the silver medal or the bronze medal is a great victory in its own respect, – said Vladimir Putin.
The President of the Russian Federation paid special attention to the topic of the politicization of sports and the Olympic movement.
– Under the guise of ‘recommendations’, real sanctions were introduced. Russia has constantly warned its partners against using double standards and the principle of collective responsibility in sport. Guided by the Olympic Charter, we are convinced that the Games are not competitions of countries, but of athletes, and we call for the elimination of politics from sport, which consistently devalues all its values and turns it into a tool of manipulation.
We remain open to broad, constructive interaction with everyone who values sports principles. The great traditions of national sports will be continued and more victories lie ahead. We will make every effort to ensure that the rights of our athletes are upheld, we will hold competitions open to all our friends and true partners. For Russia, there are no unfriendly countries when it comes to sport. We are glad to welcome everyone who stands for sport without discrimination or artificial restrictions, as well as for its ideals of justice, equality and fair competition, – concluded Vladimir Putin.
Earlier on, the Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, First Vice-President of the ROC Igor Levitin and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko presented state decorations to athletes who became silver and bronze medallists in Beijing, as well as to Paralympic athletes. The decree on awarding state decorations to the winners and medallists of the 2022 Winter Olympics was signed by Vladimir Putin after the team had returned from China.
