"In Sochi, Olympic preparations still ongoing" by Shira Springer | Globe Staff, February 05, 2014
SOCHI, Russia — With the sun setting over the Black Sea Tuesday night, window washers cleaned the glass-paneled exterior of the Bolshoy Ice Dome. Nearby, a man walked along the hockey arena’s rooftop ridge and appeared to inspect that part of the building. There were piles of dirt behind other venues, freshly planted trees near the Medals Plaza and mini-mazes of security fencing all around.
With the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics coming Friday, the Olympic Park, home to the Bolshoy Ice Dome and five other venues in the coastal cluster, remained a work in progress.
A female volunteer headed to the dress rehearsal at Fisht Stadium Tuesday night said, “It’s Russian style: Everything till the last minute, but a good result.”
Across the street from the Olympic Park, the heart of the Olympic Village offered some evidence to support the woman’s claims. The area looked like a modern, comfortable apartment complex. National flags and patriotic banners dressed up the facades of buildings that figure skaters, speedskaters, and hockey players now call home, though the US delegation skipped the decorating frenzy.
Well, I know some people didn't get such good accommodations, but....
Athletes buzzed around on rented bicycles unique to each country, with the bright orange cycles of the Netherlands contingent easily recognizable.
Is that such a good idea with black widow webs having been spun in the city?
The atmosphere was laid-back.
Yeah, I was told they were not taking security seriously.
The waist-high barriers around small outdoor pools were the only fences visible from the main road that runs past the athletes’ residences.
Depending on where you stand, sometimes even in which direction you face, the main sites make the Sochi Olympics look and feel very different. Some gleaming new buildings, like the athletes’ housing and the coastal venues, fit Russia’s desired image for the Games. But outside the tightly framed picture of what organizers want audiences here and at home to see, there is a mad dash to finish construction and ready places for their Olympic closeups.
Now if the Olympics were here the corruption would't be a big deal, and this pot-hollering-kettle homer media is going to make me root for the Russians!
Every Olympic host faces this issue, but it seems the Russians are in more of a mad dash than most. At least that would help explain why construction workers were busy pulling apart a speed bump on the only road to Fisht Stadium as volunteers, visitors, and media flooded to the arena for the dress rehearsal. Meanwhile, the area immediately surrounding the athletes’ housing is neatly manicured, an impressive improvement from when many competitors last visited the area for test events.
You mean something was actually completed and done well over there?
I mean, I don't care about the athletes or the propaganda pre$$ people; I'm just hoping the upper crust elite find their accommodations must pleasurable.
“I’m very happy with how this whole thing turned out,” said short-track speedskater J.R. Celski as he returned from practice and parked his bike outside Team USA’s residences. “We came here about a year ago and nothing was finished.
“Just to see the work and effort they put in to make it look the way it does now is amazing. It’s been completely transformed from when we came here before.
Woah, woah, woah! A positive review of Putin's party and stroking of his ego!?!
“I feel very comfortable being here. Everything is within close proximity. All the venues are right next to each other, which makes for a great energy and a great atmosphere.”
Translation: there will not be a CIA-sponsored "terror" event.
Btw, I can use the translation of propaganda pre$$ code because I am an analyst, not a purveyor of the poop. You don't have to be a mind-reader to see the agenda-pushing right in front of you in the form of an AmeriKan newspaper.
Celski said he expected a room similar to a small-sized closet and was pleasantly surprised by the “huge” quarters he shares with a teammate.
Oh, no.
For obvious reasons, the athletes and their accommodations and competition venues are the priority at any Games.
Well, yeah.
In the athletes’ dining hall, competitors line up for offerings that range from kimchi to congee to braised lamb curry. Lunchtime on Tuesday offered nearly 20 entree options all labeled with calorie counts and grams of fat, carbohydrates, protein, and sodium. For a table with a wide selection of bread and pastry offerings, a baker took the time to create decorative windmills and small houses from bread.
Glad to see they are well-fed with so, so many hungry mouths in this world.
In the recreation center, the heavy beat of techno music filled the air as a Rambo video game, foosball, air hockey table, and Wii setups awaited players. Two men from Uzbekistan occupied one of the pool tables.
In a not-so-quiet corner, there were books available to borrow, including Russian classics such as “Anna Karenina” by Tolstoy and “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky alongside the complete Harry Potter collection. The most curious entry? “The Gulag Archipelago” by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, which focuses on the Soviet Union’s forced labor camps.
That on the bookshelf in Putin's Russia?
While the reading corner was empty, there was a handful of athletes in the fitness center next door, working out with free weights and using cardio machines.
Yeah, really. Who reads books anymore?
“They’ve done a terrific job,” said Stan Wong, an athletic trainer for the men’s hockey team from Fall River, Mass., who is enjoying his third Olympics. “You can see how much money has been spent.”
Yes, that $51 billion had to go somewhere.
Still, to get from the athletes’ accommodations to the cafeteria, recreation center, and gym, a winding pathway takes competitors past landscaping that left a lot to be desired. Workers were still busy planting trees in the area, trying to make it look more hospitable.
I suppose it was too much of me to hope for a decent score from the Globe judge, even after praise of the performance.
But there are bigger and more pressing concerns than new trees and good-looking green spaces. The safety of athletes and visitors is still clearly a priority for organizers.
That is why I actually didn't want them going at all.
Armed guards of all sorts are becoming a more visible presence as the start of the Games draws closer. In the Olympic Park, an announcement in English asked attendees to report any suspicious activity.
Good to see they are tightening up security!
Yet US athletes seem to feel comfortable.
Isn't that all that matters?
“I truly feel just as safe and secure here as my previous two Olympics,” said moguls skier Hannah Kearney, who’s living at the Olympic Village in the mountain cluster. “We’ve never stayed in the athletes’ village before while we’re competing and actually that adds an element of comfort because you’re already in the secure zone. It’s actually a little less stressful here than previous Olympics.”
Russians have really made everyone relax with the hospitality, huh?
Added Celski, “I feel very safe here. They’ve assured us that everything is going to be OK. I’m just here to focus on the competition and that’s the way they’re making me feel.”
And once the mad-dash preparations end and the real competition starts, the Sochi Olympics may take on an entirely new and different feel.
Kind of ominous statement, 'eh?
--more--"
Of course, I'm not really worried much after the latest Russian sweep. Coverage has pretty much gone to the dogs after that, my dearly beloved readers.
"Federal, state, and local officials have said the deer are damaging vegetables and other crops in the state’s highest-producing agricultural county. They say the deer are responsible for hundreds of annual motor vehicle accidents and are carriers of ticks that spread Lyme disease. Larry Cantwell, East Hampton’s newly elected town supervisor, supports expanding the deer hunting seasons on Long Island, from posh Hamptons estates to agriculturally rich vineyards and vegetable farms."
Kinda taints the image a bit, doesn't it?
For the record, I'm going back to my new focus of having fun in a new format so expect some really good posts soon!
