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Vladimir Putin boosts action-man image with ice hockey match

Story highlights
  • Valdimir Putin plays gala ice hockey match
  • Russian president scores six goals

(CNN) Most heads of state exist in suits and live a sedentary life, but Vladimir Putin is not most heads of state.

The Russian president, a former KGB spy, has long been keen to portray an image of an action man and he shows no sign of slowing down.

On Wednesday, the 64-year-old starred in a gala ice hockey match in Sochi, showing off his skating prowess and stick skills as he scored six goals in the exhibition game for the Night Hockey League Wednesday at the Bolshoy Ice Dome.

But Putin was left red-faced -- to match his traditional No. 11 jersey -- when he took a tumble and was left on his back with his feet in the air.

Putin took a tumble during the exhibition match in Sochi.

Putin's team won the match 17-6.

In a brief pre-game interview Putin told CBS News foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer Russia "had nothing to do with" US President Donald Trump's firing of FBI chief James Comey.

"Your question looks very funny for me. Don't be angry with me. We have nothing to do with that," Putin said in Russian, translated into English by his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Putin set up the amateur league several years ago and has played in every gala match since 2012.

Putin has not been shy of publicising his leisure pursuits over the years. He is a keen horse man.

Putin met this horse during a vacation in Kyzyl, Southern Siberia in 2009.

He is also a fan of scuba diving. In this picture he went diving on an archaeological site at Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula in 2011.

With his military background, Putin also knows one end of a weapon from the other. Here, he brandishes a rifle during a hunting trip in the Republic of Tuva in 2007.

He flew a motorized hangglider as part of a scientific experiment aiming to preserve a rare species of crane in 2012.

A keen skier, Putin was instrumental in landing the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Putin is also a black belt in judo.

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