Sochi Winter Olympics · Global Voices

Russian fan takes a selfie at the Olympic Park in Sochi, Russia. Photo by Maria Plotnikova. Copyright Demotix Feb 2 2014
The Russian Internet was talking about the 22nd Winter Olympics even before the games began on February 7, 2014.
Thanks to Russian bloggers we now know this is the most expensive Olympics in history. We were not surprised when one of the five iconic Olympic rings went out during the opening ceremony. Our Runet echo team has been covering stories of ill-preparedness and corruption in the months leading up to the games.
Russia has been dogged by gay rights controversies lately, so we saw irony in music by T.A.T.u – a Russian band known for its lesbian imagery - being featured in the main show.
But that's not the only story, dark humor ruled the Russian Internet as floods wreaked havoc in host city Sochi just a few months ago. A toilet-gate scandal ensued after a BBC journalist tweeted some photos of questionable bathroom facilities at the Olympic Biathlon Centre.
Zippo the world's leading lighter manufacturer took the opportunity to start the hashtag #zipposavesolympics, after a video of the Olympic torch being lit with a lighter went viral during a run through Kremlin in the 2014 torch relay.
The 2014 Winter Olympics will end on February 23 in Sochi, Russia.
Coverage
24 Feb Praise for Southeast Asia’s Winter Olympians
18 Feb To Hell with the Games: Russians Turn from Sochi to Ukraine
16 Feb Togolese Skier Petitjean, from Facebook to the 2014 Winter Olympics
16 Feb Ex-South Korean Skater Viktor Ahn Wins Two Medals at Sochi for Russia
14 Feb Kazakhstan Gets Its First Medal in Sochi
13 Feb Did Turkmenistan Get Cold Feet Before the Sochi Winter Olympics?
13 Feb The Only Pakistani at the Sochi Olympics Taught Himself to Ski on Wooden Planks
12 Feb Welcome All to Russia's 2014 Olympic Hunger Games
11 Feb Russia's Patriotic Overdrive in Sochi?
11 Feb In Support of Lebanese Skier Jackie Chamoun
8 Feb I've Got 99 Sochi Problems
8 Feb Station's Rights to Sochi Games Leaves Caribbean Viewers in the Dark
7 Feb Russian Commentator Mistakes Uzbekistan for Tajikistan at Olympics Opening Ceremony
3 Feb  Will Orcas be Put on Display at Sochi?
2 Feb 13 Olympic Memes as Sochi Games Approach
29 Jan Blogger Unveils Sochi Corruption Website
25 Jan Super Bowls: Olympic Toilet Humor
22 Jan Who Bears the Cost of Russia's Olympics?
18 Jan Blogger and Commando Argue Russian Terrorism
2013
24 Dec Emptying Russia's Prisons to Fill the Seats at Sochi 2014
3 Nov Funny Money for Russia's Winter Olympics
9 Oct For the Russian Opposition Olympic Flames Burn Cold
1 Oct Dark Humor Reigns As Russia's Winter Olympics City Floods
Resources
The official website of the Sochi Games
The official website of the Olympics movement
Lonely Planet Travel Guide to Sochi
Opinion piece published in the Guardian: Mythbusting: Russia, Putin and why the Sochi Olympic Games matter
Tweets about “#sochi2014″
Follow the latest memes out of Sochi and about Sochi curated by our Runet Echo team:
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