Putin personally shakes hands with Russian gold-winning skaters

Photo: Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian skaters on winning "gold" in the team tournament. The head of state was watching the competition in the ice area and shook hands with all skaters afterwards.

On February 9^th, Olympic gold medals were awarded to skaters Evgeni Plushenko, Julia Lipnitskaya, and pairs - Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, Xenia Stolbova and Fyodor Klimov, as well as Yekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov, Elena Il'inykh and Nikita Katsalapov.

Julia Lipnitskaya became the youngest champion in the history of the Winter Games. She won gold at age 15 years and 249 days.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also said that the Russian team "was the best", whereas Vladimir Putin congratulated Canadian and American skaters who also won in team competition.