Putin Visits American, Canadian Athletes

Unexpected surprise at Olympic athlete houses in Sochi

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a series of unannounced visits to the Olympic houses of at least two Western nations on Friday, and from the pictures posted by athletes to Twitter, the visits were something of a surprise for most.

"It was an unexpected visit," said Scott Blackmun, the chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "We talked about mostly our impression of the games. He was very interested in knowing what we thought of the level of infrastructure. He was genuinely interested on whether we were having a quality experience at the games."

Putin visited both USA House and Canada House, dropping in with his healthy security detail at the gathering spots for athletes and their families in Olympic Park. Word of Putin's tour quickly spread on Twitter, as the visits elicited some fun "selfie" photos of Olympians and the Russian leader.