Editing Vladimir Putin (section)

=== Sports ===
Putin watches [[Association football|football]] and supports [[FC Zenit Saint Petersburg]].<ref name="Putin to talk pipeline, attend football game">{{#invoke:cite|web|title = Putin to talk pipeline, attend football game |url = http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=03&dd=22&nav_id=73361 |website = B92 |date = 22 March 2011 |access-date = 22 March 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110326175209/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=03&dd=22&nav_id=73361 |archive-date = 26 March 2011 }}</ref> He also displays an interest in [[ice hockey]] and [[bandy]],<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|url = https://www.thelocal.se/20160229/bandy-how-swedens-little-known-sport-is-winning-converts |title = Bandy, how little known sport is winning converts |work = The Local |date = 29 February 2016 |access-date = 9 October 2017 }}</ref> and played in a star-studded hockey game on his 63rd birthday.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-sports/vladimir-putin-scores-seven-goals-in-epic-hockey-game-57500/ |title=Vladimir Putin Scores Seven Goals in Epic Hockey Game |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=9 October 2015 |access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Vladimir Putin in Japan 3-5 September 2000-22.jpg|thumb|Putin practicing judo in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2000]]
Putin has been practicing judo since he was 11,<ref name="kremlinbiosports">{{#invoke:cite|web|title = Kremlin Biography of President Vladimir Putin |url = http://eng.putin.kremlin.ru/interests |access-date = 23 May 2017 |website = putin.kremlin.ru }}</ref> before switching to [[sambo (martial art)|sambo]] at the age of fourteen.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|date = 15 November 2001 |title = NPR News: Vladimir Putin: Transcript of Robert Siegel Interview |url = https://legacy.npr.org/news/specials/putin/nprinterview.html |access-date = 19 October 2020 |website = legacy.npr.org }}</ref> He won competitions in both sports in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] (now Saint Petersburg). He was awarded eighth [[Dan (rank)|dan]] of the [[Black belt (martial arts)|black belt]] in 2012, becoming the first Russian to achieve the status.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|date = 10 October 2012 |title = Putin awarded eighth dan by international body |work = Reuters |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-judo-russia-putin-idUSBRE8991F120121010 |access-date = 19 October 2020 }}</ref> He was rewarded an eighth-degree karate black belt in 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|date=21 November 2014|title=Putin becomes eighth-degree karate black belt|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/21/world/europe/putin-karate-black-belt/index.html|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

He co-authored a book titled ''Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin'' in Russian (2000),{{Efn|{{langx|ru|link=no|Учимся дзюдо с Владимиром Путиным}}}} and ''Judo: History, Theory, Practice'' in English (2004).<ref name="putin-judo">{{cite book |last=Putin |first=Vladimir |author2=Vasily Shestakov |author3=Alexey Levitsky |date=2004 |title=Judo: History, Theory, Practice |publisher=[[Blue Snake Books]] |isbn=978-1-55643-445-7}}{{page needed|date=February 2022}}</ref> [[Benjamin Wittes]], a black belt in taekwondo and aikido and editor of ''[[Lawfare (website)|Lawfare]]'', has disputed Putin's martial arts skills, stating that there is no video evidence of Putin displaying any real noteworthy judo skills.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last = Hawkins |first = Derek |date = 18 July 2017 |title = Is Vladimir Putin a judo fraud? |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/18/is-vladimir-putin-a-judo-fraud/ |access-date = 18 July 2017 |newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.lawfaremedia.org/ill-fight-putin-any-time-any-place-he-cant-have-me-arrested |title = I'll Fight Putin Any Time, Any Place He Can't Have Me Arrested|last=Wittes|first=Benjamin|date = 21 October 2015 |work = [[Lawfare (website)|Lawfare]] |access-date = 18 July 2017 }}</ref> During Putin's visit to Japan in 2000, a small Japanese girl with a green belt in judo tossed Vladimir Putin to the floor using a judo throw.<ref>[https://www.firstpost.com/world/viral-little-japanese-girl-tosses-black-belt-russian-president-vladimir-putin-in-old-video-11881511.html Viral: Little Japanese girl tosses Black belt Russian President Vladimir Putin in old video], ''FirstPost'', 27 December 2022, 16:01:32 IST</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYr38WiUvwM&t=33s JAPAN: TOKYO: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN: JUDO (V), Associated Press archive], Associated Press</ref>

In March 2022, Putin was removed from all positions in the [[International Judo Federation]] (IJF) due to the Russian war in Ukraine.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|title = International Judo Federation strips titles from Vladimir Putin and Russian oligarch |url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/international-judo-federation-strips-titles-vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-invasion/ |date = 7 March 2022 |publisher = CBS News |language = en-US |access-date=16 March 2023}}</ref>