Then there’s the terror threat.  Russia’s “pledged to ensure ‘the safest Olympics in history’’” amid threats before the start of the games there’s been already been one.  A Ukrainian man, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, was on a plane bound for Turkey and demanded it be re-routed to Sochi; according to CBC “Mutlu said he had “requests concerning his own country” and wanted to relay a “message concerning sporting activities in Sochi.”

Authorities were able to direct the plane and safely land it in Istanbul, its planned destination, and take Mutlu into custody; no one was harmed.

Usually games are known by the city and year (Vancouver 2010, London 2012); Sochi’s have been commonly referred to by the media as “Putin’s Games”.  He’s said to be the driving force behind the games, from convincing the IOC that a tropical location near the Black Sea would be able to host the Winter Olympics to denying corruption and rewarding contracts to childhood friends, the games are set to show the world Russia and Putin’s leadership.

Sochi has had some good publicity.

Did you know there was time when you could have actually got into the Moscow subway for free?  It’s true.  According to Forbes (2013) to promote the Sochi Winter Games the Olympic Committee the entry fare was converted from 30 rubles ($0.92), squashed down to 30 squats for the month of November.  To tour the city, all you had to do was give yourself a little workout (and start your training for the next Olympics)

The games have just started but they’re already going down in history!