MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. Russian athletes have won historic victories at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were held in difficult conditions, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko told TASS on Sunday.
"These were, probably, one of the most difficult competitions for our athletes: the pandemic and special conditions of preparations for the Olympics, the absence of spectators and those circumstance that had a moral pressure on them. We are proud of you. You have brought really historic victories at the Olympic Games to our country," he said.
"Maxim Khramtsov won Russia’s first-ever gold in taekwondo. Yevgeny Rylov and Vitalina Batsarashkina have put an end to the long no-gold period in swimming and pistol shooting. Both became two-times Olympic champions. Naturally, I would like to note the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams. We haven’t had gold for 25 and 29 years, respectively. Despite the abridged composition of the track and field team, Maria Lasitskene won gold in high jump," he noted.
The team of athletes from Russia won 20 gold, 28 silver and 23 bronze medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games and finished fifth in the overall medal standings.
"In all, our athletes have grabbed 71 medals. We haven’t had such a result in terms of the number of medals for 17 years, since the Athens 2004 Olympics. I would like to say special thanks to the coaches who put their hearts into their athletes and helped them stand to the difficulties," he stressed.
The Olympic Games in Tokyo were held from July 23 through August 8.