00:05I'm Aleph Luigas and welcome to Hashtag.
00:32The Sochi Winter Olympic Games are fast approaching and are already making headlines around the
00:37globe. The games take place February 7th to the 23rd. 98 events in 15 winter sports disciplines
00:43will be held. But so far, it seems like external controversies surrounding the games are really
00:49burning up headlines and these may be memorable for all the wrong reasons.
00:53Let's start off late. The first problem is that Sochi is Russia's
00:57sunshine destination. A 37-hour train ride from Moscow, Sochi boasts palm trees, pebbled
01:03beaches and sulfur hot springs, making it a popular vacation spot for the Soviet jet setter.
01:09While this doesn't present problems for indoor events like speed skating or hockey, alpine
01:14sports like snowboarding and skiing will have to take place in the Caucasus mountains a few
01:18dozen kilometers away. And like most wintering nations, snow guns and snow machines are readily
01:23available and waiting. So we don't have to worry about that too much.
01:27Next off, the budget. Russia is putting more money into Sochi than has gone into any other
01:32Olympics in history. That includes the much larger Summer Games. At more than 50 billion dollars
01:37overall, these Olympics surpassed the 43 billion 2008 Beijing Summer Games by a mile. And if you
01:44remember the Beijing Olympics were huge. They involved about four times as many athletes as Sochi.
01:49So just how much is 50 billion dollars? Well, according to The Economist, that's enough for
01:5520 Mars rover missions. It's more than Apple's 37.5 billion dollar quarterly revenue. Nearly five
02:02times Hollywood's domestic box office. Awkwardly more than the nominal GDP of 108 countries. And based
02:09off a Forbes estimate, it's more than enough to buy all 32 NFL teams. And as BuzzFeed reports,
02:15most shocking of all, it's worth nearly 18 Oprah Winfrey's. So hypothetically, they could have
02:21built 10 Oprah's and still spent 20 billion dollars on the Olympics. Yikes.
02:26His breath as when the keenest north winds blew. He paused above the river. Dull and gray. Turbid and
02:38chafing with a restless pain. And soon, in icy quietness, it lay. Bound bank to bank. Within his
02:50architecture. Alright, let's dig deeper. Right now, the Russian government's crackdown on gay rights,
02:56is a strong political backdrop for the Winter Olympics. And while Russian authorities might
03:00wish otherwise, history indicates that the Olympics don't distract from real-world issues.
03:05We can already see some signs of disparity, with French President Francois Hollande announcing that
03:11he will not attend the Games, one week after German President Joaquin Coe announced the same.
03:16While it is customary for a delegation from each country to travel to the Olympics,
03:21this year countries have stated their standpoint early on. Both Canada and the US will have no
03:26delegates from the Harper or Obama households attending the Games in Sochi.
03:30Now, beyond all of this, political unrest is not an unfamiliar topic to Russia.
03:35The Winter Games will be held in close proximity to the North Caucasian region,
03:40where bitter insurgencies in Chechnya and the surrounding republics have led to armed rebellion
03:44and terrorist attacks in the Russian interior. So, amid ongoing threats from insurgents and to
03:50prevent terrorists from targeting the Games, Russian officials have established what amounts
03:54to martial law in the area, and have sent more than 30,000 police officers and interior ministry
03:59troops to provide security. And if the security situation leaves you feeling nervous, no problem!
04:04Time magazine has pointed out that Sochi's planners have made it possible for you
04:08to have company at all times, as shown in this photo snapped and tweeted by BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg,
04:15who was inspecting the Games prior to the opening ceremony. And these toilets for two don't come cheap.
04:21Restroom facilities alone cost $45 million.
04:28So the big question, where is everybody? There are still 300,000 tickets still available.
04:35Although the Russian organizing committee chief told the Associated Press that they are expecting
04:40strong last-minute ticket sales and do not see them having any empty seats. So there's hoping.
04:45As for the rest of us, there will be an estimated 1,539 hours of televised coverage
04:51over the 17-day period to enjoy from the warm and politically free sofa of your choice.
04:58But all jokes aside, it's also true that we've had worries about many Olympic Games before,
05:02and they've almost always surprised us in the most pleasant of ways.
05:05I mean, Jamaica's two-man bobsled team has qualified this year,
05:10and I'm looking forward to the making of Cool Runnings 2.
05:14They're coming, and this time, the Winter Olympics are bigger than ever.
05:2018 days of passion, carved from ice, blasted from snow,
05:27an ancient tradition carried to a new generation on a course set by the stars.
05:35To the biggest country in the world, the Winter Olympics come to Russia.
05:46I'm Malika Villegas.
05:47Thanks for watching Hashtag on CIV24.com.
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05:57We'll see you next time.
06:11Bye-bye.
06:15Bye.
06:19Bye-bye.
