A contingent of US speedskaters arrived around 6 p.m. local time in Moscow today for the Essent ISU World Cup Skating in Moscow. Not to bore you with the intricacies of international speedskating, but none of the speedskaters you may have actually heard of (Shani Davis, for example) made the trip, as they prepare for the upcoming World All-Around Championships in Salt Lake City this February.
Now, the skaters arrived at Sheremetyevo airport, not at the Domodedovo airport where the attacks took place but, nevertheless, there is certainly a concern about whether the competition will continue. For their part, the US skaters sound like they want to go forward with the competition (a 10 hour flight will do that).
The big picture here (as I bury the lead) is that this can only heighten concerns that Russia will be able to provide for a safe and secure Olympic Games in 2014. Unfortunately, the IOC has been in this situation already with Russia, as they were forced to publicly and repeatedly implore the world that they were confident the Russians would provide for a safe Games. When was this, you ask? After last year's gruesome Moscow Metro bombings that killed at least 40 and wounded many more. And that attack is believed to have been carried out by two Dhagestani 'black widows.' More than anything, the IOC wants to avoid an uncomfortable situation like the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta or, worse still, the 1972 Munich Massacre (even if Eric Bana is the shit) - avoidance of any chance of being forced to repeat Avery Brundage's wooden 'the Games must go on' speech.
This is an issue I'm going to come back to repeatedly. This is now two major terrorist attacks in less than a year, both carried out by folks with ties to separatist regions in the Caucasus. What will the Russian government do to assure the world, and the IOC, that security in 2014 will be adequate?
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