MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian athletes ranked fourth with 56 medals, including 19 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze at the August 5-21 summer games.
"You had to realize the potential that has accumulated over four years, and you did it. We are proud of you. The team took a difficult path and there may have been an impression that it was demoralized. You have shown that it is not so: these problems unite the country. We participated in 29 events, won medals in 19, gold in 10 of them. That is an outstanding result and groundwork for the future," Mutko said at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin.