Tag Archives: Sochi Olympics

CBS News reports that comparatively few Americans are planning to attend the Sochi Olympics. Travel agents are seeing a steep decline in bookings over past Olympics. One agent told CBS News she has fewer than 50 clients going to Sochi. In comparison, she booked 250 for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and 350 for Beijing. Another sign of disinterest: Tickets to …

ABC News today aired an interview with Vladimir Putin in which he declared that Russia’s anti-gay laws are more liberal than the laws in some parts of the United States. “I’d like to ask my colleagues and friends that, as they try to criticize us, they would do well to set their own house in order first,” Putin said. “I …

I’m not sure I get this.

Via the Associated Press: Russian President Vladimir Putin says gays should feel welcome at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, but they must “leave the children in peace.” Putin told volunteers Friday that gays visiting Sochi “can feel calm and at ease,” and vowed that there would be no discrimination at the games. But he emphasized that, according to …

“I’ve come under so much hate and scrutiny from within my own LGBT community for my views on the Olympics. But as somebody who watched my parents sacrifice everything so that I had at least one chance of making the Olympics, I could never boycott the Olympics whether they be in Pyongyang (in North Korea), in Uganda, in Iran or …

“At the end of the day, the International Olympic Committee is very clear that what’s great about the Olympic experience is that it brings people with different points of view together. They’re there to compete. They’re not there to talk about their politics or their religion or anything else. So for us, we really just want the attention focused on …

Via their Facebook page: “Queer Nation NY paid a visit to NBC News Today Show studio in Rockefeller plaza this morning to say hi to Matt Lauer. Our message: Human Rights Are Not A Game! Putin’s Lies Kill!” More photos are at the link. And from last night, via press release: Two members of Queer Nation confronted three-time Olympian Brian …

Italy’s senior IOC member today denounced the United States for including gays in its delegation to Sochi. Via Sports Illustrated: “It’s absurd that a country like that sends four lesbians to Russia just to demonstrate that in their country gay rights have (been established),” Mario Pescante said at an Italian Olympic Committee meeting in Milan on Wednesday, in comments widely …

The honorary mayor of Sochi’s Olympic Village is defending Russia’s anti-gay laws, which she voted for in the DUMA. Svetlana Zhurova, a gold medal-winning figure skater and lawmaker in the Russian parliament who voted for the bill last June, said in an interview on the independent Russian TV channel Dozhd that she “voted to stop people promoting it to minors.” …

The U.S. State Department today issued an updated travel advisory for Americans planning to attend the Sochi Olympics. An excerpt: MEDICAL CARE: The Olympics are the first large-scale event to be held in Sochi and medical capacity and infrastructure in the region are untested for handling the volume of visitors expected for the Olympics. Medical care in many Russian localities …

NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas yesterday vowed that his network will not ignore Russia’s anti-gay laws during their coverage of the Sochi Olympics. “If Putin doesn’t drag his butt into the studio, then we’ll talk about it without him,” Costas said during an Olympics press preview. “But if he shows up, we’d rather talk to him. Wouldn’t you rather hear …

“This was something that society in a way, the arc of history, as it were, needed to get there, and the arc of history has clearly arrived.” And just in time for her to lead the U.S. delegation to the Sochi Olympics. (Via the National Review)

Three-times-failed GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan has written a World Net Daily column in which he calls on President Obama to attend the Sochi Olympics in solidarity against the recent terrorist attacks in Russia. Vladimir Putin, who has his prestige fully invested in the Sochi games, would see this as a magnanimous gesture, a reaching out of America’s hand, to …

“When the president named the delegation, and I read in the news what his message was of tolerance and diversity, I thought, I have to take this opportunity. I think the message is so strong. I’ve always wanted to represent my country as best I could, and I knew that I had to go past my comfort zone and reveal …

After two terrorist attacks that left dozens dead in Volgograd, the United States today offered to aid Russia’s security program at the Sochi Olympics. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach condemned the bombings as “a despicable attack on innocent people. “The entire international movement joins me in utterly condemning this cowardly act,” Bach said in a statement, adding that he …

Anna Leach reports at Gay Star News: Protestors gate-crashed a Coca-Cola Christmas PR stunt in London’s Covent Garden today, in opposition to the global brand’s sponsorship of the Sochi Olympics. The gay rights activists, including Peter Tatchell, tried to climb on the roof of the Coca-Cola truck parked in the center of London on one of the busiest Christmas shopping …

In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Billie Jean King said that the US Sochi delegation might wave rainbow flags. “Maybe we should wave rainbow flags or something, I don’t know,” she said, drawing an analogy to the Black Power salute – a raised fist – given by two American athletes at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. “As long as …

Days after being named to the Obama administration’s Sochi delegation, Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano has finally acknowledged that he is gay. Via USA Today: Boitano’s announcement comes two days after he was named by President Obama to the opening ceremony delegation that also includes Billie Jean King, the tennis legend who is openly gay. Boitano, 50, declined to discuss …

“It’s obviously a statement that’s being made, but I think it’s an incredibly respectful one. Basically, the White House is highlighting Americans who know what it means to have freedoms and liberties under the constitution. That’s really what we’re representing in Sochi and it’s not at all different from what’s espoused in the spirit of Olympism. So I think it’s …

Via press release from the White House: The Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russian Federation will be held on February 7, 2014. The delegation will attend athletic events, meet with U.S. athletes, and attend the Opening Ceremony. The Honorable Janet A. Napolitano, President of the University of California, will lead the delegation. The Honorable Michael …