Arena Boycott the 2014 Sochi (Winter) Games?

Did the Republic of San Marino ever host the games?

 

Unfortunately, while there is precedent for boycotting the Olympics, I seriously doubt that any nation will do that. As far as moving them, there is no precedent and the IOC will never do it.

 

It'd be impossible to move them so late anyway. People suggest Vancouver 'cause it held the 2010 Winter Olympics (and it's LGBT friendly), but they seem to ignore the logistics of it beyond "I'm pretty sure they still have the facilities!"

 

What Russia is doing is despicable and deplorable, but a boycott wouldn't solve anything. Best to let athletes have the opportunity to show Russia up in the games, and if Russia does something stupid like crackdown on the athletes or something then they'll have cast themselves as villains on the entire world stage.

 

So, since we're not boycotting, we might as well make this the offical 2014 Olympic thread. What does everybody think of the 'diplomatic' delegation the President sent to represent the US at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Also: Lindsay Vonn withdraws from the Olympics.

 

Marcel Hirscher, who is the two-time defending World Cup All-Around champ in alpine skiing and the odds-on favorite to win in Slalom, was asked about the boycott on a show on Austrian TV and I thought he made a good point: why didn't those in the media and elsewhere calling for a boycott now speak up more back when the games were awarded? It's pretty silly to put the onus on athletes who've been training for years for this one competition to boycott it at the last second..

 

Because Putin wasn't President again when the games where awarded and the anti - gay policies weren't in place back then?

 

Remember, when the games were awarded to Sochi, Putin showed up personally to the vote, much like Tony Blair did when the Summer Games were awarded to London. That apparently had a significant influence on the voters. Putin was very active in campaigning, as well.

 

If there's a reason to boycott the Sochi Olympics, it should be Syria. Not the anti-gay laws, not Snowden...but the fact that Putin has chosen to ally himself with a mass murderer.

 

Anti-gay laws shouldn't be cause for a boycott.

 

Possibly, but considering the Russian government's tacit condoning of reprehensibly violent acts against LGBT individuals, the laws aren't really the whole problem.

 

How do you define "mass murderer"? I don't deny al-Assad is one, but you're turning a blind eye to the West's activities if you think Putin is the only one who supports people like that when it's politically convenient.

Speaking of trendy-but-worthwhile-causes-Russia-chooses-to-defy-in-the-worst-way, two wild orcas were captured (I thought that wasn't legal anymore; Christ) for display in Sochi.

 

LOL... Someone clearly needs to brush up on their 20th century history...

 

http://deadspin.com/staying-in-sochi-is-a-hilarious-adventure-1515722114]Sochi[/url]... an hilarious adventure!


I'm sure this will be $50+ billion well spent.

 

That... may have been the point?

Surprising news - Russians are still mindless thugs who overcompensate for their mediocrity with bullying.

Comments blacksaber?

 

With that rule, no country outside maybe Scandinavia could host.

 

A typical Olympic athlete trains twice daily or more, constantly risks their health by pushing their body to the very limits and meticulously plans over years for each Olympic games.

Pretty much every government has some seriously unpleasant policies. The Chinese have a pretty appalling human rights record, but Beijing went ahead. Britain has conspired with the US in the whole 'extraordinary rendition' thing - herding a bunch of people who may or may not be guilty of something into camps around the world and torturing them - but London went ahead... why pull the rug from under the feet of the athletes just because Russia has passed some deeply unpleasant legislation?

Oh, and to the poster above, while I agree that Assad is a contemptible, murderous swine, the US allies itself with Islam Karimov, a man known for murdering entire muslim towns and for boiling people alive. You also recently mourned the passing of Ariel Sharon with various tributes... a man directly responsible for the rape and slaughter of thousands of refugees at Sabra and Chatila. Just a couple of examples... pretty much all nations ally themselves with psychopathic ****bags, it's called politics.

Politicians are absolute ****s. Anyone seeking power is an absolute ****. Some of the policies and conduct of almost every nation is unnecessarily pernicious or murderous. Why hurt athletes because of it?

Let's just watch some of the world's best athletes doing their crazy thing and enjoy the games.






Except curling. **** curling.

 

The anti-homosexual legislation uis of course only one of many controversies surrounding these Olympics. A nice laundry list from the Washington Post.

And a happy story from ABC News on the wonderful side effects these Olympics are having on a neighboring village.

As a friend posted on Facebook: 'Somewhere, Mitt Romney is saying, "so apparently throwing a successful Winter Olympics isn't the resume padder you all thought it was. . . "'

 

How insane would it be if a band of stray dogs were to run into the stadium that's hosting the Opening Ceremonies? In certain respects, we should hope for that.

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/this-short-film-shows-just-how-terrifying-life-is-for-lgbt-p

 

Maybe because, as we are going to doubtlessly be reminded again and again over this latest display of people doing weird **** that they don't get paid for, Olympic athletes represent their country, which is largely indivisible from that country's administration. The more moral athletes who boycott particular Olympic games because of the egregious policies of the host nation understand that. Which is to say, the demonstrably tiny minority of athletes within the demonstrably vast majority for whom an appearance on a podium is more important than their conscience.

 

Podium + conscience = ????!?!?!???!?1?1/!!?1/1