And So it Begins...

In the summer of 2007, the Russian Federation was awarded the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics (officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games) which are to be held in the (formerly) sleepy Black Sea resort of Sochi.  At the time and depending on your source, Russia pledged around $12 billion dollars to the project.  And by Russia I mean the government and government-run monopolies like Gazprom and the usual collection of oligarchs.  All this to turn a place that in 2007 had one road leading to the mountains to access the one dated ski resort into the premier winter sports venue in Europe. Oh, and don't forget about the pesky folks at the UN complaining endlessly about irreparable environmental harm.  Reports of fraud, waste, abuse and excess (the standard roll call of issues with nearly any government-funded project) came out almost immediately.In a sense, the country that gave us the Potemkin village is attempting to construct the ultimate.

Over the last week, the cost of the real thing was reported by more than one news agency as having trebled to north of 950 billion rubles - somewhere around $30 billion US.    On top of that, Russia was recently awarded the 2018 World Cup, despite similar concerns about a total lack of infrastructure necessary to host such a mega-event.

All of this is a roundabout way to get to who I am, what Sochi Watch is and what you're doing here.  As for me: I'm just a guy who wrote a thesis that touched on how Moscow was awarded the 1980 Summer Olympics and is a general fan of both the Winter and Summer versions of the Games.  I also speak a little bit of Russian, studied the language and culture in both undergrad and grad school and have more than a passing interest in the relationship between public funding and sports.

What is Sochi Watch?

Just as the pithy line at the top of this page says, I just want to take an honest look at all things Russia and the Olympics as the 2014 Winter Games approach.  The amount of information that touches on some aspect of the buildup is overwhelming and I'll be trying to cherry pick the news that is most relevant and comment on that.  And I'll do my best to be fair, while also recognizing that, for nearly any government, outlaying outrageous amounts of public cash to stage a sporting event, even one as important as the Olympics, is usually not a great idea.

As for you...

Well, I hope you learn a little bit and I know I'll learn an awful lot.  If you're just curious about Russia, the Olympics, sports, international politics or you randomly visit blogger.com blogs, I appreciate you stopping by and please, spread the word!