The Sochi Games have a "surprisingly simple feel,” especially “for a party that cost” $51B, according to Nancy Armour of USA TODAY. All of the indoor venues are “within sight -- and walking distance -- of each other." The crowds are “manageable, and clowns, folk dancers and drum bands wander the park providing entertainment.” Organizers “centralized the venues in an Olympic Park, much as organizers of the Summer Games do.” Every one of the venues is “visible from the center of the park, and it takes about 15 minutes to walk from one side of the park to the other” (USA TODAY, 2/11). The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Orwall & Alpert report the Olympic venues in Sochi have “mostly won rave reviews” and transportation is “running smoothly.” But as the Games “move into full gear, Sochi resembles an Olympic athlete who trained seven years, only to miscalculate and peak a month too late.” In a mountain valley, a “gigantic TV screen plays with no one watching.” DJs “blast music on empty plazas,” while costumed mascots “dance without an audience.” Sochi for now “appears overbuilt.” The Galaktika entertainment center and mall that “the Russian state energy giant Gazprom built at the foot of the biathlon's mountain venue” is “among the oddities” in Sochi. One attendant said that the attraction has “drawn few visitors” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/11). Meanwhile, the AP’s Angela Charlton writes the “limited number” of foreign spectators in Sochi is “dampening dreams” for local businesses. Merchants are “trying to keep their spirits up by looking past the Olympics” to an upcoming new F1 race in Sochi and the ‘18 World Cup. Charlton: “Maybe by then, the tourists will come?” (AP, 2/11).
SAFE AND SOUND: In Moscow, Kravtsova & Nechepurenko write security concerns over terrorist attacks "have declined since the Sochi Winter Olympics kicked off over the weekend, and visitors say they have not been inconvenienced by security measures despite the presence of thousands of law enforcement officers." U.S. officials attending the Games indicated that they were "satisfied with the security provided by Russian authorities." Although security was "not an eyesore for tourists," it was "still clearly present at the Games." White tents are "scattered around the alpine roads in the mountains, with police personnel monitoring the situation from the inside." Security personnel were "dressed in outfits that were indistinguishable from the volunteers' uniforms, a fact which perhaps ensured that visitors would not feel too nervous" (MOSCOW TIMES, 2/11).
MOVABLE PARTS: CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera noted the Olympic curling competition is "taking place in a venue called the Ice Cube," and what "makes this interesting is that it's actually transportable." Caruso-Cabrera: "You can deconstruct it and move it to different parts of Russia." The venue cost $14M and is a "growing trend in Olympic venues." There have been many "white elephants" over the years, venues that "never get used again and become just derelict buildings." Organizers are now "trying to avoid that." There was a "little bit of that in London, and now we're seeing it here Russia" ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 2/10).
FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT: In DC, Dave Sheinin notes the Sochi Games through four days of competition are "on track to be the warmest Winter Olympics in history." The warm weather is "having real consequences for the competition," as several biathletes in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit event "fell while skiing the softened course." A training session for the downhill portion of the men’s super-combined event that "had been scheduled for Tuesday morning was postponed for two days." In addition, "sun-softened snow in the landing area" at the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center yesterday "forced organizers to cancel the first of three daytime jumps for Nordic combined competitors" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 2/10).
