Beijing Olympics: Vladimir Putin ‘falls asleep’ during opening ceremony

Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently on visit to China and was spotted at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

However, the Russian president seemed to miss part of the celebrations as he was spotted taking a nap in the stands.

Mr Putin was caught on camera sleeping during the parade of nations.

Athletes from Ukraine marched into Beijing’s National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, while cameras caught Putin slumping in his chair with his eyes flitting as if he had just awoken from a sleep.

This is particularly awkward given the uncertain relations between Ukraine and Russia at the moment, with Russia reportedly having more than 100,000 troops stationed on the nations’ shared border.

Mr Putin was, however, wide awake by the time the Russian Olympic Committee arrived and he stood and gestured to the Russian athletes as they marched around the stadium.

The Russian president attends the games in spite of Russia’s supposed absence from the Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee banned the country for four years from 2019, due to widespread doping violations and a state-sanctioned cover-up.

The ban means that Russian athletes are prohibited from competing under their flag or hearing their national anthem played at the games.

Due to this, Russian athletes are competing as the Russian Olympic Committee, or ROC.

However, despite the sanctions, the nation’s representatives were wearing Russia’s white, blue, and red flag on their sleeves during Friday’s ceremony.