Google – AFP, 20 October 2013
Paris —
Former alpine skiing star Jean-Claude Killy said Sunday he enjoys "a very
interesting relationship" with Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian
president does not deserve the criticism levelled at him.
"I've
developed a very interesting relationship with him," the triple Olympic
champion said in an interview with French weekly Journal du Dimanche.
"I've
worked with him for seven years, which has given me an opinion that is a little
different from the one that is widely circulated," said Killy, head of the
Coordination Commission for the 2014 Winter Olympics to be held in the Black
Sea resort of Sochi.
Killy, 70,
said "everything is going marvellously well" in his dealings with the
Russian strongman. "You can get ahold of him in a minute just by calling
his chief of staff."
"The
Putin I know is not the one described in the newspapers, where you see real
'Putin-bashing'," he told the paper.
"I
have no reason to follow the crowd; I trust what I see. When he calls me from
Moscow at three in the morning his time to wish me a happy birthday, I find
that nice."
He added:
"When he plays sad tunes on the piano at the end of an evening with 10
ministers singing along, that's not hum-drum."
The run-up
to the Winter Games to be held in Sochi from February 7 to 23 has been marred
by controversy, notably over a law against "gay propaganda" that
Putin signed in June.
Critics say
the vaguely worded legislation, which punishes the dissemination of information
about homosexuality to minors, can be used for a broad crackdown against gays.
The law
sparked calls from campaigners and celebrities such as British actor Stephen
Fry to strip Russia of the Winter Games.
"Putin
told me of his surprise over the reactions and the amount of fuss it
caused," Killy said. "He told me he recently bestowed a literary
prize on a homosexual. For him, it is not an anti-gay law." Olympic official
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