Why were the Olympics held in Sochi?
It's quite easy. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) loves to be catered to and pampered. The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics bid was no exception. Russia's President made the pitch. How many cities have had their country's president make their IOC pitch? One. The path to Sochi’s successful bid started on a trip to Austria in 2002, when Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia’s most influential oligarchs, joined Russian president Vladimir Putin and Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel for an afternoon of skiing during a World Cup competition. Taking in their Alpine surroundings, Potanin and Putin asked themselves why Russia lacked a ski resort of Austrian quality. Potanin’s firm, Interros, hired Paul Mathews, an American who lives on the slopes of the Whistler resort, outside Vancouver, to look into the options. Mathews is one of the most respected winter-resort designers in the world, and he had scouted the North Caucasus before. The area is about the size of the Alps, with elevations to match, but its history of strife and economic depression has left it under-developed. Mathews focused on Krasnaya Polyana, a mountain village where a flank of the Caucasus rises steeply from the Mzymta River, 30 miles from the Black Sea coast. Potanin announced the start of construction on his ski resort, which would be called Rosa Khutor, or Rose Farm, at a Moscow press conference in 2005. By February 2007, I.O.C. representatives had arrived in Krasnaya Polyana on an inspection tour, and Mathews was prepping Russian Olympic authorities. “I told them it would be good if we picked up the garbage on the road from Sochi to Krasnaya Polyana,” Mathews says. “And it would be good if the road had a white line down the middle of it.”[1]From the AP:Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered the 2014 Olympics to Sochi with a passionate presentation in Guatemala City, giving the Winter Olympics power a home-field advantage for the first time.The Black Sea resort of Sochi defeated the South Korean city of Pyeongchang 51-47 in the final round of voting by the International Olympic Committee.The Austrian resort of Salzburg was eliminated in the first round of the secret ballot, setting up the decisive head-to-head contest between Sochi and Pyeongchang. [2]Putin's speech to the IOC:Source: [1] http://www.vanityfair.com/cultur...[2] http://voices.suntimes.com/sport...
Why doesn't India have more athletes in the 2018 Winter Olympics? There are just two men and no women representing a country of 1.3 billion.
Let's just leave out statistics for a while and talk. Do you know who he is?He is Jagdish Singh. Representative of India in cross country skiing at the Winter Olympics. He finished 103rd out of 119th. No. Like most of us, I didn't know him either until the start of the olympics. Here are some fun facts about him:Notice his jersey? There is No National Symbol. Why you ask? Because he received no national official kit. He bought his equipment using his own money costing him about 70,000 Indian Rupees (1,100 USD).While it's no mystery that India isn't exactly a perfect training ground for Winter Olympics, a training program abroad remains only good option. Our guy here had to plead with the Winter Games Federation to send him abroad for a shot at qualifiers. Why? Because Neymar Jr. costs more than the Indian Sports Budget.He missed his flight from Delhi to South Korea because the Indian Officials were arguing about who should accompany him. (Or win an all-expenses-paid vacation to South Korea).Speaking of the official bodies, Winter Games Federation of India has been de-recognised by the Indian Olympics Association. Why? Because, politics.This takes me to my last point. If they start telecasting, are you going to watch it?Article Credits: Scroll.in
Most important players Russian tennis players...?
lol "nobody gives a damn about her in Russia" yeah that's spot on. Is it true that Anastasia Myskina didn't want Sharapova to play on the Russian Fed Cup team a few years ago? Yevgeny Kafelnikov former No.1. He won 4 doubles grand-slam titles and 2 singles (French & Aussie), plus the gold metal in the olympics. And of course Marat Safin another former No.1 and 2-time GS champ. A few other important russians are Davydenko & Youzhny. You think Davydenko will ever win a grand-slam?
How did the Sochi Olympics end up so massively over budget -- spending $50+B after originally planning $12B? Was there corruption?
Short version: The 2014 Winter Olympic Games were used as an excellent opportunity to distribute dozens of billions of dollars among a whole network of corrupt regional and local government officials, hence "buying" and engraving their loyalty.As you may know, Vladimir Putin has a very sombre reputation for institutionalizing corruption at the core of all Russian Government.He entered presidential power shortly after disposing of his mentor and ex-boss (Sobchak, Mayor of St. Petersbourg) and blackmailing the president Yeltsin out of office (whilst providing him and his family with immunity) as well as very many less known dodgy deals.He then ridded the ranks of government from all those that helped his get to power and replaced them with lifelong criminal business partners (the so-called members of the Dacha Cooperative "Ozero").Whilst demonstrating that no challenge or opposition will be tolerated in the slightest (Khodorkovsky), Putin engaged in a systematic cleansing of Government positions all over Russia. The method was pretty interesting: a new party (United Russia) was created. You either became a supporter and a member, or you were let go. Preference for leading positions was given to those with a distinct criminal past. Governor elections were cancelled and corrupt governors were appointed. The strategy consisted in making sure that corruption, by means of United Russia, grows deep into the root of each local and municipal government, and all the way up to the Governors and Ministers and State Duma (House of Representatives) in one harmonious system of corruption that wholeheartedly supports the Putin regime. In exchange, the ruling elite provides for ample opportunity for all those involved (United Russia) to have plenty of opportunity to engage in systematic corruption on a regular basis. Furthermore, occasional mega-projects such as Rosnano, various pipelines and the Olympic Games provide the Putin regime with an excellent opportunity to hand thousands of officials the ability to steal several Millions of Dollars each and provide some key players the ability to steal way more, hence engraving support and content with the regime in the now rooted and nationwide network of thoroughly corrupt government.
Is Russia getting ready to invade Poland and Germany?
Certainly since Russia annexed the Crimea tension between Russia, the US and other NATO countries has certainly increased. Putin's attempt to increase his military power is on-going, though will oil prices falling, it is doubtful he can afford to carry out all his promised expansion. There are large-scale NATO war games involving 10,000 troops happening in Poland this month, just ahead of a major NATO summit meeting in Warsaw. A meeting where President Obama will meet with heads of all NATO member states, and Russian aggression is expected to be a major topic. NATO says it wants to keep talking with Russia, and it has reconvened a NATO-Russia council that stopped meeting after the Crimea annexation. But NATO no longer speaks of a "strategic partnership" with Russia, but rather uses Cold War–era rhetoric about keeping lines of communication open. President Obama's administration is moving 5,000 troops, and tanks and other heavy weapons, into several Baltic and Eastern European countries. NATO is also getting around to deploying missile defense systems in Poland and Romania that were originally proposed in 2002. A base in Romania became operational just a few weeks ago, and work has begun on another in Poland. So as I say tensions have definitely increased, we could be entering a new Cold War. Though as one who lived through almost 40 years of the last Cold War, I think at the moment Russia have no intention of invading any European country, particularly those like Germany and Poland who belong to the European Union. As any such action, not taking into account the USA, would be considered an act of war against all 28 European Union countries including four of the top ten militaries in the world, France, Germany, UK and Germany, two of who, France and the UK have nuclear weapons
Why did Russia choose Sochi instead of some other city when making its Olympic bid?
Interesting question, considering that the traditional skiing resorts are located on another side of Caucus: check Dombay, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, which was a skiing resort since 1960s. It is not too cold, or too remote, or too flat.I can think of two reasons:A geo-political decision to develop Sochi and relevant infrastructure, due to proximity to Abkhazia and access to Black Sea. Olympics just a good excuseDifficulty in securing any place in North CaucusHowever there could be some fringe reasons:Putin likes Sochi, already has his dacha thereSome ultra-rich Russians like staying on their yachts. You cannot moor a yacht on North CaucusIf you put so much money into something, you might as well develop a place you can also use in summer.Excuse to get involved in Abkhazia. They built a major resort and sports center within 5 miles (!!!!!) from the border of that breakaway republic. Now, if Georgia decides to muscle Abkhazia back in, Russia will have an excuse to roll in and "restore order".
What is the Historical backround of Greece?
Everything (almost) that you need to know about Greece, you should be able to find here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece