Putin Volunteers for Russian Judo Team
EmailABC's Alexander Marquardt reports from Moscow: Action man Vladimir Putin is at it again, showing his country what a tough guy he is.
The Russian prime minister has now offered up his black belt skills to the national Judo team following a team practice that saw him tossing various members of the squad to the mat like sacks of potatoes.
"If you need direct help, you can include me in the team," he told the coach following the training.
Russian state television broadcast images of the Russian premier entering a gym in a white judogi and black belt to applause and flashbulbs.
The 57 year-old started off slowly, sparring with a teenage boy whom he promptly lifted off the ground and slammed to the mat. He then moved on to bigger opponents including a distinctly larger man who was quickly felled.
After all, who’s going to actually embarrass the man most consider to be the most powerful in Russia?
"He has the psychology of a winner, the psychology of the victorious," said Georgy Kukoverov, the head of the St. Petersburg School of Sports Mastery where the display took place, according to Reuters.
The former KGB agent has carefully honed his macho image over the years with various photo-ops including judo fighting, shooting a tiger with a tranquilizer dart, and numerous shirtless vacation photos while fishing or riding a horse.
He even released a judo DVD last year titled “Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin.”
Though he is no longer president, Putin has sky-high approval ratings and is widely considered by experts to be more powerful than his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev. Recently, Putin has stoked speculation that he may be considering a return to the presidency in 2012.
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Poor Putin – what a show!
Posted by: ddg | December 21, 2009, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm
i am sure no one was ging to be able to beat him it is former ussr!
Posted by: noneofyerbeeswax | December 21, 2009, 8:29 pm 8:29 pm
I wonder if Putin realizes how he’s embarrassing himself outside of Russia. If not, someone should clue him in on how silly he appears to the rest of the world with his ham-handed attempts at public relations. I guess no one has the courage to tell him and risk the dreaded “Putin plunge.”
Posted by: meridian | December 21, 2009, 9:28 pm 9:28 pm
@meridian – Haha!! compared to yeltsin who appeared drunk at international meetings and summits and emabarrased himself iand others. I think russia can put up with a bit of a sober showman :)))
We wrooy more about the curtailing of freedoms that his “showmanism”
Posted by: Bogatiriov A A | December 22, 2009, 1:44 am 1:44 am
He’s obviously over-compensating for something.
Posted by: cc | December 24, 2009, 3:32 pm 3:32 pm
so rediculous.. the guys he was sparring against were letting themselves be thrown about like rag dolls, it was embarassing. It would have been a lot more impressive to see him thrown himself, and then for him to jump back up. That would have shown resiliency and spirit, instead of pridefulness.
Posted by: Pat | January 3, 2010, 3:29 pm 3:29 pm