I just love this sport so much - Tetyukhin

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 7, 2016 - Nervousness from this being their first match at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was the common theme in the Russians' reaction to the four-set win over Cuba on the opening day of the men's volleyball tournament.


Sergey Tetyukhin

On their match against Cuba:
"As usual, a lot of the players were nervous. Whether you are 20 or 40, it’s very normal to still get nervous in this type of situation. I want to commend Cuba’s performance. Their young players stepped up and gave us a great challenge."

On his sixth Olympic Games:
"I am quite surprised because I never really thought about it until now and I was feeling really calm about this. Every Olympic Games is like the first time for me. I came here not because it’s my sixth Olympic Games or because I am bearing the Russian flag. It’s just my goal to help my team and I just love this sport so much."





Maxim Mikhaylov

On their match against Cuba:
"It was a very hard match for us because it’s our first match in this Olympic Games. We were very nervous, but the most important thing is the victory."

On the players that will step up in Muserskiy’s absence:
"There's no one person who’s going to step up in the team for this Olympic Games, everyone should step up. We have a great team with players who can lead in every moment."