February 17, 2014

The Double-Edged Swords of Sochi

By Kim Zigfeld
As the first week of the Winter Olympiad in Russia drew to a close, Russia's balance sheet looked rather bleak.  It seemed that every piece of good news, and there were three very impressive high notes, was outnumbered at least five to one by horror stories.  But there was still a decent chance for Russia to emerge from the games having covered itself with a decent amount of glory. First and foremost, the good news was that, knock on wood, there had not been a single incident of much-feared Caucasian terrorism either in Sochi or anywhere else in Russia, nor any noteworthy incidents of goonish behavior by omnipresent security toward Olympic visitors. But (1) the skiing and snowboarding venues were unsafe as built, with some athletes pulling out in terror while others sustained horrific injuries and had to be carried from the slopes; (2) public relations were abysmal -- Russia crazily rushed to ban gay parents from adopting while the games were underway,...(Read Full Article)