Many of the planet’s most famous martial-arts masters are coming to Budapest next week for the World Judo Championships – including President of Russia Vladimir Putin, who recently agreed to visit Hungary for the event’s opening ceremony on August 28th. While it remains unclear whether or not Putin will use this opportunity to show off his own black-belt-level judo maneuvers (which are highly acclaimed by Russian state media, along with Putin’s shirtless outdoor-sports endeavors), the presence of Russia’s head honcho will certainly add global gravitas to this notoriously tough tournament.
According to an August 24th report by the Russian News Agency, President of Russia Vladimir Putin – who holds a black belt in judo – will attend the opening ceremony of the 2017 World Judo Championships, happening in Budapest for the first time during August 28th to September 3rd at the Papp László Budapest Sportarena. Although the veracity of Putin’s martial-arts skills has recently been called into question, the former KGB agent was personally invited to attend the tournament by President of the Hungarian Judo Federation László Tóth and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán; according to the Kremlin press service, Putin and Orbán will take some time away from observing the judo action to hold a “working meeting”.
As of press time, tickets to Budapest’s World Judo Championships are still available through the official event website, and seats remain open for the Monday proceedings that Putin will attend as an international visitor – but by the end of his trip, Putin will be an honorary citizen of Hungary “in recognition of the important role attached by Russia and Hungary to the University of Debrecen in modernizing the Paks Nuclear Power Plant”, so perhaps the Russian premier will soon be spotted executing breakfalls and kinshi waza in Budapest dojos on a regular basis.
