TRAVIS WEST | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics: Urine colored water, toilets with no dividers and German rainbows.
Russian president Vladimir Putin have made the Winter Olympics more about how far behind Russia is in the human culture race than any sporting event.
Athletes expressed their concern about traveling to Sochi because of possible terror attack by insurgents who were behind an attack in Volgograd, Russia Dec. 29 2013, but most (if not all) of the athletes were not deterred.
Since the attack, threats have been directed toward the Olympic games and Russia has taken the threats quite seriously.
The threats resulted in a mass amount of security. The amount of guards has been estimated between 40,000-70,000, raising the tensions for tourists and athletes alike.
Some even began to question when they should be told not to come.
Despite all the threats, even that has taken a back seat to what the attendees of the games have been really complaining about.
If only they had known what their living conditions would be like beforehand, then maybe they would’ve changed their mind then.
First off, it starts with the infrastructure for the Sochi Games. Russia has spent more money than any other Olympics ever, topping out at 51 billion dollars.
Most of which has been reported to be kickbacks to Putin’s buddies that he hired to construct a lot of the Olympic Village.
Any person in their right mind would believe that spending this much money would result in a well-built Olympic Village.
Athletes showed up from all over the world only to find out that they must have been the victim of a mean hoax.
Personally, I would pay to watch the reaction of athletes as they walk into the bathroom of their room only to find two toilets, side by side with no stall in between.
Athletes tweeted photos of themselves sitting on the toilets with their roommates, showing just how close together the toilets are.
This led to more photos and claims.
The next was the water. There is a now infamous photos circulating that shows the deep yellow water that has been provided as “tap” water. Of course, they have been told to not ingest this water.
If you haven’t seen the water, it looks like apple juice. It’s that deep of a color.
The amount and type of controversy behind these games has been appalling, but thankfully we had Germany to lighten the mood.
Putin has been criticized over the treatment of homosexuals in Russia. Since then, he has come out and said that any homosexual would be welcomed in Sochi. It’s hard to believe for a country who openly dislikes homosexual behavior.
In what seemed like a shot at Putin, the Germans arrived at the opening ceremony in head to toe rainbow outfits.
Much to the delight of the crowd, the Germans were greeted with a loud roar.
With the games underway, everything seems to be piling on for the Russians. Allegations of secret cameras and the deterioration of simple room fixtures keep surfacing.
Needless to say, Russia is that host that doesn’t clean up before having company. Not only did they not clean up, but they left out all their dirty laundry for the world to see.
