The Soviet Union won more medals than any other country at seven of the nine Summer Olympics it competed in between 1952 and 1988.
Many have attributed its success to the establishment of special schools that trained talented youngsters from an early age. And despite the dissolution of the USSR, these schools remain.
Matthew Pinsent has visited The Special School of the Olympic Reserve in Ekaterinburg to meet the next generation of Russia's Olympic hopefuls.
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