Thoughts on Vladimir Putin and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games

Courtesy: theinspirationroom.com

I honestly wish I could spend more time researching this subject, especially because it involves two things that I really enjoy: sports and politics.  But this block is heading into its home stretch, and I don't feel like I'm anywhere near prepared as I should be.  Oh neuro.

But with the Olympics starting, I did want to mention a few thoughts.  The 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia have been named by many as Russian President Vladimir Putin's Olympics, or even "Vladimir's daughter" in Russia itself.  Not Sochi's Olympics or Russia's Olympics.  Putin's Olympics.  London wasn't called Cameron's Olympics.  Vancouver wasn't known as Harper's Olympics.  Even Communist China, which is known for their questionable human rights and party-loving propaganda, didn't hold an event called Hu's Olympics.  And the last time the world's sole superpower, the United States, hosted the Olympic Games, they weren't called Bush's Olympics.  Granted, none of these leaders held the top spots in their respective countries when the Olympics were awarded--usually the International Olympic Committee (IOC) names the host city of that year's games seven years in advance.  Guess who was President of Russia when the IOC awarded the 2014 games to Sochi.

Putin's been in power for a long time.  He's either been President or Prime Minister since 1999.  I'm not going to get into whether he orchestrated the power transfers between him and former President Dmitry Medvedev, how Putin was named Prime Minister after Medvedev was elected President of Russia, and then how they effectively switched jobs four years later.  But obviously, Putin has a hold on Russia.  He wants to bring Russia back to its glory days as a superpower.  It's only sensical that Putin use one of the world's biggest events as a stage to show off Russia.  Thus the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Putin's been the face of Sochi 2014, having handpicked the city to hold the games and dropping $50 billion on preparing for the event, more than any other Olympics in history (including Summer; I had to double-check to make sure).  There's been a huge security presence to guard against any terrorist attacks or separatist movements.  There have been cries of corruption that Putin spins into other excuses.  Journalists and protesters have been affected.  Obviously, Putin wants to show off how great his Russia can be.

Couple all of this with recent accusations about Russia being homophobic, especially in the wake of its law prohibiting "propaganda of non-traditional sexual practices" among minors, which has been interpreted in many different ways, even in Russia.  Putin has had to say that gay people are safe in Russia if they leave kids alone.  That definitely doesn't sound like a strong message, honestly.  People have been reminded of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Hitler's Games.  We all know what Hitler did, and the awful tragedy that is the Holocaust should never happen again.  Hitler wanted to use his games to promote the ideals of his government, Aryan supremacy, and Germany's power.  Jews were banned from competition (among other hardships they had to endure), and gypsies were rounded up and put into camps.  Putin and Russia are nowhere near that level, especially in terms of what happened in Europe after 1936, but there are similarities between attempting to show power and disparaging against certain types of people.  Bigotry is a slippery slope.  And in the court of public opinion, there has been no separation between the controversial law Putin's country has put into practice and Putin's games.

Of course, most people hope that the Games are successful, and everybody lives happily ever after.  That's not how the world works, unfortunately, and a watchful eye must be kept on what happens to Russia after Sochi, and how Putin chooses to guide the country.