Bodyguard Says Appalled by Judo Throw on Putin
August 5, 2000 - 0:0
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped onto a judo mat last month and threw a Japanese boy.
To the astonishment of his bodyguards at the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa, he promptly allowed the boy to floor him in return.
"To be honest, we did not expect that the president would allow the Japanese athlete to return the throw," Yevgeny Murov, chief of presidential security, told ITAR-TASS news agency.
"I think he should not have done it. I made my opinion known to him afterward," he added.
Putin, a former KGB spy with a passion for hazardous pastimes, has often given his bodyguards a tough time by flouting security regulations to take a ride in a fighter jet or put to sea aboard a submarine or battleship.
Murov said the first thing he did after taking his job in May was to make clear to his staff that they would have to sweat to keep pace with the president.
(Reuter)
To the astonishment of his bodyguards at the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa, he promptly allowed the boy to floor him in return.
"To be honest, we did not expect that the president would allow the Japanese athlete to return the throw," Yevgeny Murov, chief of presidential security, told ITAR-TASS news agency.
"I think he should not have done it. I made my opinion known to him afterward," he added.
Putin, a former KGB spy with a passion for hazardous pastimes, has often given his bodyguards a tough time by flouting security regulations to take a ride in a fighter jet or put to sea aboard a submarine or battleship.
Murov said the first thing he did after taking his job in May was to make clear to his staff that they would have to sweat to keep pace with the president.
(Reuter)