“We had to get ourselves together and sort it out. The main thing was confidence. From the first two sets, we were hanging our heads in shame. We didn’t lose our confidence and just got together, took a depth breath and to us it was the first set. Coach Alekno changed the game completely by moving Dmitriy Muserskiy to the hitter position and we just started to play better. Yes I got a lot of points in this tournament, but about winning the set and the match. The fact I scored lots of points is irrelevant. Lot of players can score, but not every team can win.”
On winning another gold medal for Russia, Maxim said: “This is a wonderful experience to finally, even though we have won so many medals in volleyball to have our first gold again since 1980 in Moscow. I wasn’t even born yet that’s how long ago it was. But for our family, including physios and everyone else, and for our country, this gold medal is for all of us to share and enjoy the moment. It’s been a very long time coming.”