Ah, journalists! I love you guys, but you just can’t resist a good Olympic competition story between two nations at war. Certainly the cameras loved the symbolic hug between Russia’s Natalia Paderina and Georgia’s Nino Salukvadze during the medals ceremony as the mortars pounded the Georgian military into dust (the irony of the event, 10-meter air pistol!), or even the more fiercely competitive beach volleyball match as Georgia’s Andrezza Chagas and Cristine Santanna (who may have grown up in Brazil, but so what!) defeated the Russians Alexandra Shiryaeva and Natalya Uryadova.

But there can be no temptation greater than to shine the politics on the Gold medal victory of Georgia’s mighty judo champion, Irakli Tsirekidze, who trounced the Russian competitor Ivan Pershin early on in the semifinals.

This of course brings to mind the question of how Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a seasoned judoka himself (sixth degree black belt), would have strategically approached the match – or perhaps the battlefield – to gain the upper hand. Luckily we have some insight on Putin’s judo thinking from the preface of the book Judo: History, Theory, Practice, by Vladimir Putin and others, published in 2004 by North Atlantic Books.

Last 5 posts by Robert Amsterdam

• Igor Yurgens Speech : Transcript - November 6th, 2009
• Russia: The Playground Bully? - November 6th, 2009
• Long Road To Justice - November 6th, 2009
• Energy Blast - Nov 6, 2009 - November 6th, 2009
• Today in Russian Business - Nov 6, 2009 - November 6th, 2009