The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics will be closing Sunday night at 20:14 Sochi local time. Though they are almost finished there was a lot of controversy surrounding the Games; including the expensive cost, the construction leading up to the Games, and the Russian laws banning “homosexual propaganda.”
With the estimated price tag of $51 billion, the Sochi Winter Olympics have been the most expensive Game of all time. The previous Winter Games, 2010 Vancouver, cost only $1.7 billion. According to USA Today, the United States’ own 2002 Games, hosted in Salt Lake City, cost less than $3 billion. Sochi even passes the previous budget record, held by China’s 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics which, according to Pravada News, cost $44 billion.
The high price tag was supposed to be a show of Russian power but also, many believe, a result of corruption. In an article by Fox News, Boris Nemstove, a Russian politician, estimates that two-thirds of the $51 billion was lost to corruption. In the same article, anti-corruption activist, Alexei Navalny, claims that over 10 of the Olympic buildings costed double what they should have. A 25-mile road and railway combination that connected the coast to the ski resort came with the price of $9.4 billion dollars according to Fox News. Costing $200 million per kilometer. Some speculate these investments will not pay off and Russia will face economic crisis in the near future.
Despite the large amounts of money being spent, delayed and poor construction also affected the Sochi Winter Olympics and lead to the world wide hashtag of “Sochi Problems.” Issues varied from dangerously unfinished hallways to urine-colored water coming out of faucets. Right before the Olympics began, it even inspired a Buzzfeed article titled “Photographic Proof That Sochi Is A Godforsaken Hellscape Right Now,” which included images of grass being painted green, pavement still being laid, and poorly-placed wires and fire hoses. Perhaps the most popular image circulation was the one of two toilets next to each other without a divider.
Besides the criticism surrounding spending and construction, Russia has also received grief for its “anti-LGBT laws.” These laws which do not criminalize being gay, do detain and fine anyone promoting “nontraditional relationships.” The New York Times reports a transgender woman and former member of the Italian parliament was arrested on Sunday for holding a sign in the Olympic Park that read “Gay is OK” in Russian.
Much of the issues come not only from the government and this law, but also vigilante groups, who lure and harass gay people with the Russian government turning a blind eye. BBC showed footage of gay men being shaved, forced to drink urine, and publicly humiliated in other ways. Videos of this humiliation were then posted online. The vigilantes claim that they are targeting pedophiles, not gay people.
Putin and other Russian politicians who support the anti-propaganda law say that it is not intended to discriminate against gay people, but aims to protect children. Supporters also say it is protecting traditional relationships and promoting Russian values, instead of western liberalism. The law was quite popular in the Duma, according to Al Jazeera, it passed with a 436-to-0 vote and passed through the Russian law system without issue.
Despite these large controversies Sochi faced, the Olympics will be closing Sunday with so far no large political hiccups have affected the Olympic events. During his speech at the Game’s opening ceremonies, International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach, urged countries to leave politics out of the Olympics. Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter states: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Athletes have honored this and the podiums have remained protest free. The focus remains on the Games.