RUSSIA: OLYMPICS - Russian Olympic team visits Kremlin for the official send-off ceremony ahead of its departure to London for the Olympics

Record ID: 330942

  • Title: RUSSIA: OLYMPICS - Russian Olympic team visits Kremlin for the official send-off ceremony ahead of its departure to London for the Olympics
  • Date: 21st July 2012
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 21, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE KREMLIN
  • Embargoed: 5th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Politics,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA40JMRCR5FC0MICU5X17O9ODF
  • Story Text: Members of the Russian national Olympic team visited the Kremlin on Saturday (July 21) to take part in the farewell ceremonies before leaving for the London Olympics.
    Athletes along with Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak layed wreaths to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near Kremlin walls and met with President Vladimir Putin for the last parting words.
    "You have reached a lot already. But you have a chance to make one more step - to win at these Olympic Games. This is what every sportsman aspires to. Hundreds of thousands will be looking at you from the stands. Millions will be watching your performance on television all around the planet. And I will not exaggerate when I say that there will be millions watching in our country too. And we all will be waiting for the victories, for the results from you," Putin told the Olympic team at the ceremony in the Kremlin.
    "(I wish that) thanks to your victories the Russian flag would be raised and our country's anthem would be played as frequently as possible at London stadiums. I wish you to believe in yourselves the same way millions of fans in Russia believe in you," Putin told the team of 436 people ahead of their departure to London where the Olympics will kick off on July 27.
    Russia is aiming to repeat its third place finish in the medals table at Beijing in 2008 when the squad competes in London, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said last month.
    The Olympics may mark the first visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Britain in nine years, his spokesman said earlier in June amid tense relations between London and Moscow over security, diplomacy and human rights issues.
    Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics at the Black Sea resort of Sochi and the 2018 soccer World Cup.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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