The authoritarian leader of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, has criticised the country’s sports officials and athletes after the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation failed to win any medals at the Rio Olympics.

“It’s disappointing that even with all the facilities provided, you could not justify the trust of the motherland,” Berdymukhamedov told the sports committee chief, Kaakbay Seiidov, in an angry encounter shown on state television.

Turkmenistan, which has a population of around five million, has never won any Olympic medals, but the fitness-loving Berdymukhamedov likes to cast the energy-rich country as a haven for sports enthusiasts and warned Seiidov to “make good on these shortcomings in the near future or face the sack”.

In April, state employees were coerced into performing pre-work, open-air fitness exercises as part of an annual month-long drive to boost healthy lifestyles. Berdymukhamedov is regularly shown on television playing sports and, on occasion, winning horse races.

Turkmenistan was represented in Rio by nine athletes across five disciplines. Turkmenistan’s neighbours Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan both enjoyed their best-ever medal hauls at Summer Games, taking 17 and 13 medals respectively.