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Good afternoon, my friends.

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I am happy to see you.

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We all know very well the price of victory in modern high performance 

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sports and how much hard work it takes –

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and you know it better than anyone does.

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But it becomes twice as difficult when sports get mixed with extraneous 

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events, phenomena, circumstances,

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politics or other things that have nothing to do with it.

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And it becomes three times harder when the public in a country –

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our country in this case – has very mixed and complex attitudes,

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sometimes completely opposite opinions on the matter.

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This creates a very tough environment for achieving results.

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Please forgive us for not being able to protect you from this.

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You and all sports fans must have no doubt that Russia has always 

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supported and will support clean sports in every sense − clean from 

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doping and clean from superficial circumstances unrelated to sports.

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Of course, we feel very sorry for those of our athletes who will not be 

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able to compete in the Olympic Games this year and will do 

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everything to support them.

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At the same time, while admitting our own failures, mistakes,

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lack of attention to the things relevant and important in modern 

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sports, we really hope that our colleagues in international sport 

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organisations will do everything to make sure these organisations do 

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not become departments of certain countries’ government bodies,

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no matter how powerful and influential these countries seem 

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at first glance. We really hope for this kind of attitude towards this 

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matter, towards sports, and rely on their courage.

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We realise that modern sport is linked with sponsorship,

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advertising and everything else that accompanies major 

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international competitions.

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But if modern international sports and the Olympic movement lose 

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the main element of sport, which unites peoples and countries,

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all of it will become pointless.

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In this case the appeal of the founder of the modern Olympic movement,

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Pierre de Coubertin “O Sport, You are Peace!” will lose its meaning.

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We will do everything to prevent this from happening.

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We will work with international organisations and support, as I said,

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our athletes who did not make it to the Olympics.

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Some things really seem strange to us in this context.

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As you know, many of them were allegedly banned from the Games 

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for the totality of circumstances not related to doping.

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What are we fighting against then? Doping or something 

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else? We would like to know what it is.

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We hope to have a substantive conversation with our colleagues from 

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international organisations to sort it out.

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Naturally, I wish you good luck.

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I would also like to wish you not to think about anything that is not 

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part of your preparations for the Olympics,

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not to worry about anything I just spoke about.

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I wish that you only concentrate on your sport competition,

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knowing that as usual you are watched by hundreds of thousands,

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by millions of fans that love you and hope for your victory.

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I sincerely wish you victory and good luck. All the best to you.

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Thank you.

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Friends and athletes,

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Mr President, thank you for your words.

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You always find the words that stay in our hearts for a long time 

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and support us in this complicated situation.

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The current situation in sport, not only in Russia,

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but also internationally, is truly unprecedented.

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No one can recall anything like this. This is my third Olympic Games.

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It has always been a place of unity with other countries,

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a festive occasion filled exclusively with positive emotions.

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Now, I can say that I do not feel anything like that.

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I believe that what happened to our colleagues who are unable 

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to participate in these Games is a case of blatant injustice.

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It is not fair. I want to say that we will continue to fight and we 

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will do our best to bring home the medals that we deserve.

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I want us to show what we are really worth.

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Thank you.

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I would like to thank you, Mr President,

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for supporting sport in such a complicated situation.

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I also want to tell all the athletes that we are going to the Olympics,

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where the entire world will watch us and wait for us to make a mistake,

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or fail at something.

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We must prove to all of them that we are Russians, we are strong,

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and we will not cave in just because our teammates were not 

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allowed to participate.

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We must pull ourselves together,

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go there and win. We are the best in our respective sports –

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and we must prove that we are the most powerful sports 

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force in the world.

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Thank you.

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Mr President, as captain of the team, on behalf of all those present,

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I want to thank you for what you have done to promote Russian hockey,

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to support our Olympic team, and to promote sports 

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in general across Russia.

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To use sports terminology, you are the captain of our country,

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of Russia. We want to present you with a sweater that our national team 

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signed, all the players, which says, ”Russia is in My Heart.“

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I would like to briefly comment on what you have just said.

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First, you need to focus on the result and on winning.

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Everything that happens around sport and around our 

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athletes should not distract you. You know how to do this.

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Many athletes are going, both experienced and novice ones.

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However, all of you are used to putting up fights and know how to do 

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it. You need to compose yourself.

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One more thing. Someone here mentioned that since some athletes were 

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not allowed to participate, we will double our efforts 

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to make up for the missing ones.

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There is an old song dating back to Soviet times: 

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”For myself and that other guy.

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“ Keep this in mind, and you will succeed.

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All the best to you.