Sochi Olympics

[Hound of UIster]

Isn't some of that US$51bn for other amenities like new hotels etc... And of course after the games there are plans to have a F1 race at Sochi, the first scheduled to take place on the 12th October (the 16th round)

Beijing had a population close to 10 million and it couldn't even absorb all that infrastructure built for the Olympics. Sochi is barely 1/20 the size of Beijing. This is going to be worse than what happened to all that leftover infrastructure in Athens.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Isn't some of that US$51bn for other amenities like new hotels etc... And of course after the games there are plans to have a F1 race at Sochi, the first scheduled to take place on the 12th October (the 16th round)

$51 billion is still an insane number. Its significantly more than what Beijing spent on a SUMMER Olympics. And that Olympics was pretty extravagant. I guess I can understand the negativity considering the price.

Perhaps you should resist making hyperbolic accusations of "racism" then, since it seems as if you have many of the same concerns as others, and they have exhibited no actual bigotry in the articles or this thread so far that I've seen.

Also, given Putin's and the Russian government's treatment of gays leading up to the Games, it's somewhat misplaced to be worrying about alleged bigotry in the form of journalists remarking on substandard hotel rooms, face-burning water, and roving packs of dogs.

 

[wissaboo]

Don't get me wrong, I hope the games embarrass the hell out of them, but the media is flooded with stories of impending disaster at every olympics.

 

[MacLeod]

Not just the Olympics, the World Cup can also run afoul of this as well.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Don't get me wrong, I hope the games embarrass the hell out of them, but the media is flooded with stories of impending disaster at every olympics.

I don't want the Games to go badly, because that doesn't hurt guys like Putin and his cronies. They'll just blame any problems on their political rivals, the Western media, and convenient scapegoats, while the Russian taxpayers and the international athletes and fans --who I have no ill will against-- suffer the consequences.

Yes, it's true that the media does play up problems leading up to every Olympics. I remember all the negative hype leading up to the London Games quite well, and they turned out fine. The difference here being, this stuff is being pretty well documented by multiple sources (including reliable ones) in both Russia and internationally, with photographic and video evidence rather than just rumors and innuendo. Also, the graft around the contracting and so forth has been well-reported inside Russia too.

Everything during the Games themselves could turn out great, and I hope they do, but the fact that they let the journalists who are going to write about the Games live in such poor conditions doesn't exactly bode well for the condition of the rest of the facilities.

Also, the fact that the media does play up the flaws prior to every Olympics does sort of put the lie to the idea that this is some kind of widespread anti-Russian bigotry at work behind these complaints.

 

[Amaris]

Well generally reinforcing the tired old trope that has been going on since the 17th century that Russia is a European backwater not as advanced culturally, technologically or militarily and that slavs are primitive and backwards.

There are floors missing in hotels, there's water that's dangerous to the skin coming out of hotel faucets, stray dogs running around and being exterminated by a task force, there are surveillance devices in shower stalls, and the Olympic Village looks like it was built by the folks at EconoLodge, and all for the tidy sum of $51,000,000,000 dollars.

What's great is no one had to talk about anyone being primitive and backwards; no sir, the word of the day is "corrupt," and heinously so.

The OP was asking why it would be considered racism. I answered his question. Is that so difficult to deal with?

I'm sorry, in what way is your follow-up question relevant to my answer? You gave reasons why it might be considered racism. I explained why there are plenty of valid reasons to be critical of the coming Olympics without resorting to any racism issue.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Most of these "stories" are pure anti Russian propaganda and borderline racism.

Oh really? In what way is it 'racism' when visiting journalists and athletes post reports and pictures of the horribly squalid living conditions in the Olympic village?

Well generally reinforcing the tired old trope that has been going on since the 17th century that Russia is a European backwater not as advanced culturally, technologically or militarily and that slavs are primitive and backwards.

Those are racist tropes, yes. But what we're talking about here is actually going on. There's proof of it. It can't be racist if it's TRUE!

 

[IndyJones]

Yeah, there's a difference between the host city rushing to put down sod in the hours before the start of the opening ceremony and toxic, face burning water coming out of the faucets and canine execution squads roaming the streets. And there doesn't need to be any racism involved in pointing those things out.

 

[Timewalker]

Let's just agree to let Canada host the Winter games from here on out, they know what they're doing!

Vancouver is one of the warmest cities of the country, not a great choice for Winter games. And a lot of people found the Vancouver's bill too high for the treasury. I don't know for Calgary (1988), but Montreal (1976) was also really hard for the public funds. It's not the madness of Sotchi of course. So, despite the eagerness of the Quebec City's mayor, I don't think the country is willing to host Olympic games on a regular basis.

Calgary did quite well financially. Canada Olympic Park is still perfectly functional, and I haven't heard of any of the venues or other infrastructure crumbling into a garbage heap.

 

[B.J.]

Wow. Who knew the Russians were such big Daft Punk fans?

Seriously, there were at least 3 different Daft Punk songs in the opening ceremonies: a cover of "Get Lucky" by the Russian Police Choir, the Russian athletes entered the stadium to "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", and the finale used music from Tron Legacy. Very cool IMO.

 

[Gruß vom Krampus]

This woman says it all.