ABSTRACT
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the popular Black Sea resort in Krasnodar Krai, were meant to be a triumph for President Putin. The first Russian Olympiad since the 1980 summer games in Moscow would demonstrate that Russia was back as a major power, both in sport, and in world politics. Lavish spending on construction would showcase Russia’s economic recovery, and the completed Olympic sites would prove the government’s capacity to carry out a major public works project. In the event, despite Russia’s impressive haul of medals, the games were dogged by controversy. Criticism centered on the cost and quality of Olympic constructions, widespread environmental damage, and the failure to recognize the region’s indigenous Circassian inhabitants in the festivities. In addition, the international press reported on complaints made by Central Asian guest workers in Sochi about long hours, unpaid wages, and violent police retaliation against workers who spoke out against abuses. 2 The media also covered the peculiar role in the games of Governor Tkachev’s Cossack militia, who were deployed around Sochi, ostensibly to provide security. As was reported in the press, the Cossacks openly engaged in the ethnic profiling of Caucasian visitors arriving in the city by train. 3 The Krasnodar Cossacks also attracted international attention after they beat members of the feminist rock group Pussy Riot who staged an unauthorized performance during the Olympiad. 4
