“We will win”: Putin clink glasses with Denis Spitsov, Kamila Valiyeva and Anastasiya Mishina (from left) in the Kremlin.
Image: AFP
Putin honors successful Russian athletes in a ceremony in the Kremlin. They say thank you and promise to hold up the flag.
Ahen Vladimir Putin honored Russian gold medalists from the recent Olympic Games in Beijing on Tuesday, some of them had the opportunity or had to thank their president. Putin has long adorned himself with athletes. Their successes are important to him – and as proof of Russia’s world standing, they are always also political, which is why successes that don’t materialize or penalties for violations of the rules are always based on the machinations of an unfavorable, even hostile, foreign country.
Cross-country skier Veronika Stepanova put this into words best on Tuesday, whose words were picked up particularly comprehensively by Russian state television. “I am as old as the century,” she said in the magnificent Catherine Hall of the Kremlin: “I was born in January 2001. Before my eyes, Russia again became strong, proud, successful,” the athlete continued. She didn’t have to mention that Putin’s rule began more than a year before she was born and that she therefore owes Putin a personal debt of gratitude, even though her youth meant she didn’t experience the “bad 1990s” that the Kremlin constantly reminds her of had to.
