Atheletes arriving at Sochi
Russia kicks off the opening ceremony Friday in Sochi as the world turns its attention to the costliest Olympic Games in history.
Spectators from all over
the world will watch the lavish event and introduction of athletes,
marking the official start of the Winter Olympics.
Light shows and music, lots of it, will fill the air.
"Most of the ceremony
focuses heavily on Russian classical music," said Konstantin Ernst, the
main creative producer of the ceremony.
"Unfortunately, unlike
London, we cannot boast a plethora of famous world-known pop performers.
This is why we are now focusing on what Russia is best known for
musically around the world; namely, classical music."
Despite anxiety about
terror strikes, controversy over gay rights and ridicule for poor
preparations, the nation's officials have maintained that the sites in
Sochi are secure.
It will be "the safest place on Earth during the Olympics," said Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Games.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin, who pushed the International Olympic Committee to hold
the Games in the nation, will attend the ceremony.
"The head of state is
expected to declare the Games open during the ceremony," Ernst said. "It
is a requirement. And naturally, Mr. Putin will be doing just that."
The ceremony, the only event scheduled for the day, will last about two and a half hours.
"We believe this is going to be a respectable format. It will be very comfortable for the spectators," he said.
About 40,000 people will be watching from the stands at Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi.
Russian classical music star Anna Netrebko will perform the Olympic anthem, Ernst said.
A day before, high
excitement marked qualification events in the men's and women's
slopestyle, women's moguls and team figure skating.
SECURITY
Russia has drafted 37,000 police and security officers to handle security in Sochi, but that has not done much to assuage fears.
Toothpaste terror: A day after the United States warned of how explosive materials could be concealed in toothpaste
or cosmetic tubes, its government Thursday temporarily banned all
liquids, gels, aerosols and powders in carry-on luggage on flights
between the United States and Russia.
U.S. partnership: U.S.
authorities are working with Russia and other countries to try to
disrupt several possible threats, including the toothpaste tube concern,
a U.S. intelligence source said Thursday.
The threats vary in
credibility, and the biggest one traces to the group Imarat Kavkaz in
Russia, which has publicly said its followers will try to disrupt the
Games, the official said.
"The threat stream is credible, I think it's real," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California.
Private protection: The
U.S. ski and snowboarding team has hired a private security firm,
Global Rescue, to provide protection. It's not clear how much the firm
could do in the event of a major incident when Russian forces will be in
charge. But it has been gathering intelligence on the ground and will
provide an extra layer of protection as athletes travel around.
Ships for safety: Two
U.S. Navy ships have steamed into the Black Sea, where they will be
ready to help if any mass evacuation of U.S. citizens is needed. U.S.
security officials are working with their Russian counterparts to keep
the Games safe against the backdrop of a regional separatist movement that has threatened to use terrorism at the Olympic Games.
Targets of threats: Americans
are not the only ones who are jittery. Austria said two of its female
athletes had been the target of specific threats. Austrian media
reported that an anonymous letter was sent warning Alpine skier
Bernadette Schild and skeleton racer Janine Flock they could be
kidnapped.
We've heard it before:
It's not the first time security issues have dominated the buildup to
the Olympics. Britain parked missile batteries on apartment block roofs
and a warship on the River Thames before the 2012 Games. The Salt Lake
City Winter Olympics in 2002 were held amid heightened security only
months after the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States. And in 1996,
the Summer Games in Atlanta were subject to a terror attack.
PREPARATIONS
When Russia bid to host
its first Winter Olympics in 2007, a document quoted an expected cost of
around $12 billion. That figure has ballooned to around $50 billion.
That's more than four times over budget and surpasses the cost of
Beijing's 2008 Summer Games -- making it the most expensive Olympics
ever, summer or winter.
Russia had less than
seven years to transform what was a fairly low-key seaside resort town
into a Winter Olympics venue. The project required staggering feats of
engineering in building a new freeway and rail link up a mountain, and a
ski resort on the top. And yet questions about Sochi's readiness have dogged the final run-up to the Games.
Not quite there: While
the sports facilities were completed in good time, journalists and
others arrived in Sochi this week to find that some of the 40,000 new
hotel rooms were far from ready and that construction workers were still
hard at work on parts of the Olympic Park.
Thanks to pictures of chaotic scenes posted on Twitter, Russia's pride has not been spared.
But CNN's Ben Wyatt in
Sochi reports that the picture is not all bad. His hotel has been
"superb," and staff and Games volunteers are clearly making an effort to
be helpful and speak English, he said.
While some media hotels
and landscaping projects have not been completed on time, the sporting
venues all look to be in very good condition, he said.
PROTESTS
Every Olympics has protests. But thanks to social media, Russia is facing a global backlash.
What got many people
riled was Russian lawmakers' passage last summer of legislation known as
the anti-gay propaganda bill. The law makes it illegal to tell children
about gay equality.
Open letter: More than 200 writers from around the world signed an open letter
published Thursday in the UK newspaper The Guardian, calling for a
repeal of laws that have placed a "chokehold" on the right to free
expression in Russia.
"As writers and artists,
we cannot stand quietly by as we watch our fellow writers and
journalists pressed into silence or risking prosecution and often
drastic punishment for the mere act of communicating their thoughts,"
the letter said.
Designated site:
There is a designated protest site in Sochi. But there's been criticism
of organizers' decision to tuck it away in a hard-to-reach village 7
miles (11 kilometers) from the main Olympic Park.
More protests may be yet
to come -- perhaps even by athletes -- despite an Olympic Charter rule
that bans demonstrations in any Olympic sites and other areas.
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