Early on the morning of Jan. 31, 2018, snowboarder Alena Zavarzina was with a group of Russian athletes at the Sports Ministry in Moscow. It was a few days before their departure for the Winter Olympics in South Korea. They were driven out of the city to one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences, where they were to meet the Russian leader. Zavarzina, who was about to compete in her third Olympics, was chosen to make a speech to Putin on behalf of the Russian team.

A Kremlin official interviewed her in advance to check that she would stay on message. Asked what she wanted to say, Zavarzina summarized to the official: “Thank you so much, it’s incredible. Love you. Thank you for sending us to the Olympics.” He gave her the green light.

Zavarzina got nervous as the athletes spent hours expecting Putin to show up (the Russian leader has earned a reputation for keeping guests waiting). Eventually, he arrived.

“He gave a speech, I gave a speech, and then he responded,” Zavarzina said. “Then we gave him this hockey jersey, and we had an informal patting-on-the-back moment. I cracked a joke. I don’t remember what it was, but I was trying to be like ‘Putin’s my man.’”