I've just built rust from the latest git and it still seems true (at least with the default compiler flags).
The "hello world" from the tutorial compiles to a 1MB executable (dynamically linked with the C library but statically linked with the rust library). The equivalent C program creates a 6.5KB binary with gcc.
The language itself doesn't need the runtime: it's entirely implemented in libraries, and the libraries are slowly being rearranged to offer as much as possible to clients who wish to avoid the runtime (e.g. "libcore").
The "hello world" from the tutorial compiles to a 1MB executable (dynamically linked with the C library but statically linked with the rust library). The equivalent C program creates a 6.5KB binary with gcc.