The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup are two examples of major championships hosted on Russian soil during Putin's time in power.
And even on a personal level, Vladimir Putin has a strong connection to sports.
Until February 26, 2022 – two days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine – he was honorary chairman and ambassador of the International Judo Federation.
Due to the invasion, he was stripped of his title and also his black belt in Taekwondo.
- Sport is above all connected to Russia's superpower building, which is what Putin is most driven by, says Jakob Hedenskog, analyst at the Center for Eastern European Studies at the Foreign Policy Institute.
Watch Jakob Hedenskog develop his reasoning in the clip.