A celebratory victory lap by Russian President Vladimir Putin turned into quite a trip.
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The longtime leader stumbled, and fell on his face, when he tried to skate over a carpet placed on the ice following a friendly game of exhibition ice hockey.
Friday’s match in the Black Sea resort of Sochi featured some of his high-ranking officials as well as former sports stars.
Putin, who traditionally wears the number 11, scored 5 goals and led his team to a 12-7 victory.
After the win, Putin circled the rink of the Bolshoi Ice Arena, waving to the crowd, and not looking directly in front of him.
Check out what happened in this video from The Guardian, below, at 01:20 in:
Or, if you’re in a hurry, scroll to 0:15 in on this video tweeted by ABC News:
Russian President Vladimir Putin took a fall as he waved to the crowd during an ice-hockey game in Sochi. He scored eight goals during the exhibition match in what has become a yearly tradition. https://t.co/x0mN62qQoY pic.twitter.com/l6XCRrwsIB
— ABC News (@ABC) May 10, 2019
According to the Russian official propaganda website RT.com, “Putin was continuing his tradition of hitting the ice after each of his presidential inaugurations. Six years ago, he played an ice hockey game just hours after the official ceremony in Kremlin. On May 7, Putin was inaugurated for his fourth term as Russian president.”
What’s even more interesting is that, for some reason, RT.com left out Putin’s fall. And no mention of whatever happened to the guy who put that carpet on the ice. Interesting.
