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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, allow me to welcome you.

I cannot fail to recall your support during the preparations and hosting of last year’s Olympics. Now, the day our Olympic Games opened has become Winter Sports Day; we are marking this memorable date. And I suppose this is one of the most important legacies of the Olympic Games: that ultimately, our mass sports are developing at a faster rate than before the Olympics.

I am very happy to see you. We agreed that we will maintain contact with the aim of promoting the Olympic ideals, the Olympic movement, and sports overall.

Welcome!

President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach (retranslated): Thank you very much, Mr President! It is a great pleasure and honour to see you again. And now, exactly one year since the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, I want to congratulate you on this outstanding success.

These Winter Olympic Games are the best memory for athletes, international Olympic committees from 205 nations, and all who were involved. And we strongly believe that this event will significantly promote the development of mass sports in your nation. And in this respect, I would like to once again congratulate and thank you for giving an important place to sports in your nation; it plays an important role in education.

And I am confident that the events that were held in Sochi, which left us with such happy memories, have created all the conditions for holding other athletic events – world championships, world cups and international competitions – in your nation in the future.

I would like to once again wish you success and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you about further cooperation in more detail.

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