Sochi Winter Olympics Receives Ambivalent Responses Due to Security Threat

WESLEY TSAI
Staff Writer

In January of 1924, France held the world’s first ever Winter Olympics. Now, ninety years later, we have the 2014 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Sochi, Russia, where the snow has yet to fall.

However, there have been major disputes among the International Olympics Committee (IOC) and the Circassians, a group of Adyghe people native to Caucasus. The Circassians demanded Russia to cancel the Olympics or apologize for the 19th century deaths that the Circassians viewed to be a massacre. Two centuries ago, Tsarist forces killed tens of thousands of Circassians and hundreds of thousands more were driven to exile. The Circassians feel as if the IOC are having the Olympics on a burial ground and requested the location to be changed. If these demands are not met, some have threatened to fight back with violence.

However, this is not the only issue. Many threats have been sent in to the IOC. The Winter Olympics are being held in a country with an active insurgency capable of coordinating attacks, two of which were suicide bombings in December. Within seven months, the Chechen, a Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh people, have issued two statements targeting the Olympics. According to NBC News, these threats are meant to be revenge for the blood that has been shed by the Tsarists whether it be in Afghanistan, Somalia or Syria.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s fourth and current president, has stated that he has increased security by 60,000 police officers and that there will be maximum security during the two-week span of the Winter Olympics to ensure the safety of both the fans and the athletes involved in the Games.

“We have a perfect understanding of the scope of the threat and how to deal with it and how to prevent it,” Putin said, according to New York Times.

Although Putin stated that he knows how to cope with the problems, some people disagree.

“I believe that even with so much security, the safety of the people is still endangered. They’re not only going to be physically damaged, but mentally too. They’ll have the constant worrying of whether or not the attack will occur,” senior Vivian Fan said.

Professional athletes such as Dustin Brown, an American hockey player, and Julia Mancuso, an American alpine ski racer, also feel that the event is potentially unsafe for athletes and spectators.

“Anybody who’s not concerned is probably lying, I think it’s fair to say there’s some concern there,” Brown said.

However, foreign delegates around the world voiced different reactions.

“We are coordinating with them. We’ve looked at their plans, I think we have a good sense of the security that they’re putting in place to protect not only the athletes themselves, but also visitors there.” President Barack Obama said, according to The Guardian.