Sochi Olympic Site 'Completely Empty' Six Months After 2014 Winter Games

Russian photographer Alexander Belenkiy said that Rosa Khutor, which was one of the main hubs of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, is "completely empty" six months after the games, according to Tony Manfred of BUSINESS INSIDER. Rosa Khutor was the center of the "mountain cluster" of 2014 Olympic venues. Belenkiy called the town "lifeless" in a post on his Live Journal blog. He said that the shops, restaurants, and hotels were operating at 5% capacity and that "he encountered only a handful of tourists on the streets." Belenkiy acknowledges that the town "will see more activity when the winter ski season returns." But given the established lack of post-Olympic planning that went into the Sochi venues, "these photos are ominous for the legacy of the 2014 games." They "are reminiscent of the abandoned venues from the 2004 Athens Olympics" (BUSINESS INSIDER, 8/22).