Basking in the glow of support from International Olympic Committee Chairman Thomas Bach, Putin began his stay at the Sochi Games by promoting a cuddly image, visiting a group of endangered Persian leopard cubs born last summer in the mountains above the Black Sea resort.
"We've decided to restore the population of the Persian leopard because of the Olympic Games," Putin said. "Let's say that because of the Olympic Games, we have restored parts of the destroyed nature."
Some journalists accompanying him weren't so lucky. They apparently upset the big cat, which scratched one of them on the hand and bit another on the knee, Russian news agencies reported.
In Putin's presence later, Bach used an IOC gathering to criticize politicians for attacking the Sochi Olympics "on the backs of the athletes" and to slam world leaders who snubbed the games. He said sports should not be "used as a stage for political dissent or for trying to score points in internal or external political contests."
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"People have a very good understanding of what it really means to single out the Olympic Games to make an ostentatious gesture which allegedly costs nothing but produces international headlines," said Bach, a German lawyer and Olympic gold medal winner.
The buildup to the Olympics has been overshadowed by Western criticism of the anti-gay law and Russia's record on human rights and other issues, making Sochi among the most politically charged games in years.
Speaking to the same IOC meeting, Putin said nothing about the hard issues confronting the Sochi Games cost overruns, unfinished hotels and an uproar in some countries over gay rights.