AFP/Moscow
Russian Premier Vladimir Putin, seeking to consolidate his hardman image ahead of March 4 presidential elections, squeezed into a bobsleigh yesterday to try out the dangerous winter sport.Yet even Putin wisely avoided wearing the skin-tight one piece suit worn by the Russian national bobsleigh team and appeared to stick to a slower test run as he was guided down the track driven by a professional.Putin had initially wanted to drive the sled himself down the new bobsleigh and luge track in the Moscow region but was deterred from doing so by Russia’s national squad, who told him it was too dangerous for a beginner.“You could. But there is no need. You need a certain degree of preparation,” Russian athlete Viktor Kneib told Putin with impressive tact.A compromise was later reached with Putin sitting in the back as brakeman in a sled driven by Russian national team member Alexei Shadeyev, pictures broadcast by state television showed.Unlike his lycra-clad crew-member, Putin clambered somewhat uncomfortably into the sled wearing a hefty parka jacket.Neither wore helmets, indicating that the massive speeds reached in competition were not targeted. Russian news agencies said a first run had been so slow that Putin’s sled had ground to a halt and they had to start again.“I loved it. I’d recommend it,” said Putin after the second attempt.The new bobsleigh track in Paramonovo outside Moscow is the first complex to be completed in Russia, whose ice sport stars have until now had to train at a former Soviet facility that was built in Latvia.Russia is also building another world-class facility outside the southern city of Sochi which will be used for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the Black Sea port.Putin has in the past driven a Formula One car and ridden horses stripped to the waist to exhibit his virile qualities but such stunts have been mercilessly satirised by the opposition movement against his rule.