Moscow- Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday saw off the nation's Olympic team with a rallying call and a prayer service at the Kremlin to the upcoming Beijing Games.

"We will not make prognoses, but all Olympians should know that we will cheer for you with all our hearts," Medvedev told the blue- and red-jacketed athletes in the Kremlin's gilded Georgevsky hall.

"Your Olympic oaths will serve not only to strengthen yourselves but to united millions of people here in Russia," Medvedev was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying. "Many Olympic records bear our names and the banks will become heavier."

Basketball team captain Andrey Kirilenko, who will bear the flag in the August 8 opening ceremony in Beijing, presented Medvedev with the number 8 jersey in his name and the team's mascot, a Soviet cartoon character named Cheburashka.

"We are proud of our country and want Russia to be proud of us," Kirilenko addressed his colleagues. "What you feel while standing on the podium can't be put into words."

"I wish that at the Beijing Games the Russian anthem is heard as often as possible!" he added.

Russia is sending 467 athletes as well as coaches, doctors and other handlers to Beijing. Russian contestants will be absent from only six events, Russia's Olympic Committee said.

The head of the committee Leonid Tyagachev predicted the Russian team would garner 80 medals, including 30 gold, to place third in the total medals count behind the US and China.

A prayer service for success in Beijing was held at the Kremlin's Uspenski (Assumption of the Virgin Mary) Cathedral, and a representative of the Orthodox Patriarchy will accompany the athletes to the Olympic village. (dpa)