The 2014 Winter Olympics

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http://gawker.com/sochi-contractor-tells-olympic-horror-story-1519053774

Olympic Contractor Tells Sochi Horror Story


Barring a particularly memorable Winter Games, the Olympics in Sochi are destined to be remembered as "The One Where Everything Was Shitty." To the pile of Sochi horror stories we can add this tale from snowboard and ski course builder Johnnie Balfour.

Balfour originally posted this on his personal blog before deleting it, but naturally the text soon showed up on Reddit. His story of coming to Sochi in mid-January to help prep for the Games has more than its fair share of whining, but it also highlights the total lack of regard for the comfort of not just those covering the Olympics, but those making them happen, too.

His "hotel" was seemingly as bad as any we've seen in Sochi so far, and that is a very crowded field.

We pull into a driveway of a block of buildings that look like a council housing estate in England. It looks like it was built 50 years ago, not 2. The road is half built and there is mud and water pouring down the street off the mountain. This place is a dump and looks like it could fall down at any moment. I am pulled from the car and shoved in front of a pimply kid seated behind a plastic table. He is surrounded by boxes of building supplies and broken tiles, the place smells of concrete dust. Pimple kid hands me a key and points at the next building, "Top floor, room 10". I turn to leave, "No, you come". He drags me to another room full of folded laundry, he hands me a two sheets, a pillow case and a roll of toilet paper.

The amenties, like many in Sochi have experienced, consisted mostly of yellowish-brown water. Appetizing!

The toilet flushes muddy water, there is no hot water, the shower floor is covered in dirt and mud, there was piss all over the toilet, the water is undrinkable (it's brown) it's even sketchy to brush your teeth with it and the idea of having internet in this place is a joke.

Of course, it could have been worse. Balfour, unlike his friend, had reliable transportation from Sochi's airport to the site of the Games.

Before I get a chance to explore, Nick Roma turns up, soaking wet with a "Fuck this" look in his face. Turns out he got onto a bus from Sochi airport and was told to get off in the middle of nowhere. He stood in the pouring rain for almost an hour before another bus showed up. The second bus dumped him at a bus depot.

Balfour also says that Russian Olympic officials ordered that he and his partners open bank accounts in the country, and when they refused, accounts were open in their names anyway. He also doubts that he will ever be paid for his services.

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi: an amazing shitshow, as long as you're not there. Or a dog.​
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http://gawker.com/international-olympic-committee-supports-russias-arres-1518947707

Olympic Committee Supports Russia's Arrest of LGBT Activists


Since the start of the Olympic Games in Sochi yesterday, at least 14 people have been arrested across Russia for staging — or attempting to stage, or perhaps even thinking about staging — protests of Russia's anti-gay laws.

Today, Emmanuelle Moreau, the head of media relations for the International Olympic Committee, told BuzzFeed that it has no problem with the actions of Russian police, saying, "As in many countries in the world, in Russia, you need permission before staging a protest. We understand this was the reason that they were temporarily detained."

Moreau also said "we understand that the protesters were quickly released," though several of those arrested have alleged that they were beaten by Russian cops while in custody. According to the Russian nationals detained in Moscow after demonstrating in the city's Red Square, they were kicked, choked and threatened with sexual violence. Some of them of also theorized if they were being monitored by Russian police, who arrested a number of people before they had even actually begun protesting.

The IOC, perhaps, is betting that stories like this will be swept away by the pomp and pageantry of the games, though its support of Russia's police force isn't surprising considering that it, you know, awarded the games to Russia in the first place.
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Damn, Tara Lipinski went and got all hot on everyone. When did she grow up and get sexy?
 
By contrast it is 5c in Hong Kong. I accidentally succumbed and watched a few minutes of figure skating on Sunday. Valentina Marchei.
 
Great USA vs Russia hockey game finish!

TJ Oshie scores 4 of 6 shootout goals to win it for the USA.....
 
I still haven't really gotten into watching the Olympics. It's shocking how many people were sitting in lobbies and food courts of financial district buildings on a weekday afternoon watching the Olympics.
 
Fwiffo said:
I still haven't really gotten into watching the Olympics. It's shocking how many people were sitting in lobbies and food courts of financial district buildings on a weekday afternoon watching the Olympics.
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The USA vs Russia hockey game this morning was the first time that I watched more than 5 min worth of it...
 
ter1413 said:
The USA vs Russia hockey game this morning was the first time that I watched more than 5 min worth of it...
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Me too. I downloaded the men's downhill which is pretty much the only event I care about. I didn't even know it already ran. Otherwise, its mostly pretty boring shit.

And when are figure skaters going to ditch those idiotic costumes?
 
The men's figure skating, being a Torontonian, seems about as depressing as the Super Bowl for me so having skipped that I don't feel so bad.
 
Poor Russian girl broke her spine on the women's downhill practice today. I sometimes forget how dangerous skiing can be.
 
Rambo said:
Poor Russian girl broke her spine on the women's downhill practice today. I sometimes forget how dangerous skiing can be.
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I thought there was a man who broke his spine too and Putin visited him. There was a whole article in the paper about how dangerous the snowboarding events were too.

Just to show how hockey crazed Canada is, they ran a few minutes of how the American players came dressed for a game and how the Canadians did; apparently suit & tie and for a lot of them, squares too give you an edge (?!).
 
Yeah, i posted about the Russian guy a few posts back. I think she was the worse of the two though.
 
Is the world so fractured that we can't agree on one standard for the medal count? I keep seeing Germany is first or Netherlands is.
 
David Attenborough does narrates Curling:

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