Sochi facilities still a work in progress | 2014 Winter Games: Well, Putin arrived Tuesday. Everyone look busy.
In Beijing, every detail was nailed down. They violated all kinds of human rights to do it, of course, but it was an expression of China’s ruthless efficiency. It showed what the country can do, when it wants to.
Sochi? Well, three of the nine mountain hotels have not been completed, and the IOC estimate that 97 per cent of the rooms are ready appears to ignore the little things.
Almost every room is missing something: lightbulbs, TVs, lamps, chairs, curtains, wifi, heat, hot water. Shower curtains are a valuable piece of the future black market here. (One American photographer was simply told, “You will not get a shower curtain.”)