Fresh from victories in Tokyo, Russian Olympic medalists were preparing for a reception with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month when they were told they would spend a week in quarantine before meeting the president. “I still can’t believe I’ll have to sit in one room for seven days,” Angelina Melnikova, a gymnast, wrote on social media. But the requirement wasn’t new: senior officials, journalists, and even veterans of the second world war have had to self-isolate before coming within breathing distance of the man who has stood at Russia’s helm for over two decades, and who next week turns 69.
