President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated the newly elected head of the Russian Olympic Committee on Thursday and gave him a few pointers on how Russia can get its act together in the sporting arena.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov was elected to head the Russian Olympic Committee earlier in the day, while his predecessor, Leonid Tyagachyov, was appointed honorary president.
"We need to make sport more up to date, competitive and attractive, and also work hard to prepare for the Olympic Games - the Summer Games in London and the Winter Games in Sochi," Medvedev said.
He pledged support for the Olympic Committee to help it "clean up its act" in an area that was "crucial" for the country.
Zhukov said he would do his best to turn the situation around.
"I hope that we will be able to deal with all these matters shortly," he assured the president.
Tyagachyov resigned in early March following Russia's poor performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Russia finished the Vancouver Games with its worst Winter Olympic medal tally in history, winning just three golds, five silvers and seven bronzes to finish 11th in the overall table.
Much hope had been pinned on Russia's superstar-packed ice hockey team, but it was knocked out of the tournament at the quarterfinal stage by eventual winners Canada.
Decades of Russian dominance in figure skating came to a dramatic end as Russian athletes failed to grab any gold medals for the first time since 1964.
Following the games, Medvedev urged senior sports officials responsible for Russia's "dismal" showing at the Olympics to "make a courageous decision" and leave their posts, although Tyagachyov notwithstanding little has changed.
MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti)
