Winter games on a sunny beach

Sochi was shortlisted. And Russia is closer than ever to getting the Olympic Games. Even if they were winter, when people went wild in front of the screens this winter, inflating TV ratings, who thought that the summer Olympics would be more prestigious? Games, they are Games! I almost said “and in Africa.” It probably won’t reach Africa, but holding the Winter Olympics off the coast of a warm sea in the subtropics is quite possible.

Let's leave aside the talk about whether we need the Olympics at all, at whose expense it is, what the real benefits are and whether there will be any income besides crazy expenses - these topics were discussed in detail when Moscow was bidding for the 2012 Games. The capital lost, which was to be expected, as soon as one glanced at the list of competitors. Back then, almost all the greatest cities in the world were claiming victory, and the fact that ours were included in the top five, that is, on the same short list, was an achievement and an objective ceiling for that situation.

With Sochi everything is different. The main thing is the absence of undisputed favorites and great competitors. Because most of the applicants sought to simply declare to the world the existence of such places on the map. What could Almaty offer? Or Borjomi? The proposal can be considered as a place for advertising mineral water, which urgently needs new markets. As a venue for the Olympics, don’t be ridiculous.

And now, after peeling off the frivolous proposals, three remained: Sochi, Salzburg and a Korean city with an unknown exact name - either Pyeongcheng, or Pyeongchon, or Pyochan, or something else. It was not even possible to find it on the map. Meanwhile, this village is offering its services for the second Games in a row and last time lost to Vancouver quite a bit. So the Koreans are not Borjomi, but a well-reasoned proposal.

The further course of action is as follows. Until January 10, applicant cities send detailed application plans to the IOC, where they answer all questions and write about everything they can. Then, after reading the Talmuds, the Evaluation Commission will go to the cities, which will find out on the spot what is true in the applications and what is just advertising chatter. The visits will last until April, and in July 2007 the host of the 2014 Games will be named at the IOC session.

The best way to say about Sochi’s chances is “it was smooth on paper.” No, theoretically we have a really very attractive project. An interesting and compact arrangement of objects, an amazing natural combination in which you can swim in the sea and ski down the mountain. There are also all sorts of funny finds, invented mainly by the same team that prepared the Moscow application. But there are two points that will most likely prevent Sochi from winning.

First, and most importantly, psychology. Do you think the Koreans will be able to prepare adequately and successfully hold the games? Yes, no doubt! There is a lot of money, the country is calm, the people are hard-working, efficient and extremely disciplined. They can be entrusted with any task without risk. Austrians are strong in tradition. Well, where else to hold the Olympics if not in the Tyrolean Alps? Austria is almost synonymous with winter sports. Moreover, no one doubts their ability to organize everything and carry it out without a hitch.

But the Russians don't have the best reputation. It’s not that it was our fault that something ever fell through, but it feels like at any moment any business COULD fall through. In Russia, everything is somehow not good, thank God, you don’t know what to expect from it. Besides, Chechnya is nearby. And it doesn’t matter that the distance from Sochi to Chechnya would fit all of Austria and some of its neighbors. We are now treated without sympathy. And I assure you that the overwhelming majority of IOC members will not take into account any reports of the Evaluation Commission and other relatively objective indicators when voting. Everyone has likes and personal preferences, and they will be guided by them.

However, not everything is going smoothly with the Russian application either. Simply because until now all these elegant finds, features and gadgets exist only in the form of projects. On the one hand, this is good, because by the time the Olympic facilities will be completely new. On the other hand, I would like to see and touch something. You can plan and draw anything, but build it! Then the same stereotypes work: can you rely on the Russians, and can they really pull it off?

For the same reason, we were not given the European Football Championship at one time, when Russia was the most solid and, as it seemed, the most obvious contender. But the commission arrived and saw a dozen of the most beautiful arenas on the drawings and not a single decent operating stadium.

It's the same in Sochi. There isn't even an airport there. The “appraisers” will have to land in Adler. But this airport is in a terrible state, it has been reconstructed for 20 years now, but to no avail. It was here that the Armenian A-320 crashed. And even though there seems to be no direct fault of the ground services, the case gained a lot of publicity and the aftertaste remained. Well, how can we seduce guests with our beauties if the plane has to land far away, in a bombed landing point (you can’t call it anything else), and then take it by bus along mountain paths? The first impression is the strongest. Will Russia's chances increase after this? Especially when everything else is also virtual.

Therefore, before winter, it is imperative to open the airport and hammer in at least a nail at each of the proposed sites, so as not to carry the commission around an empty place, showing pictures and scale models made of plastic. In short, I'm a pessimist. Our place is third. Moreover, one should focus not even on Salzburg, but on the Koreans. They are considered by many to be favorites. We can only count on the fact that the election of the Olympic capital is the same sport, and in sports sometimes outsiders win.