Media Watch - Sochi Scrutinized; Tokyo 2020; Sheikh Ahmad's "Trifecta"

Sochi’s "Olympic Rush"

Anna Nemtsova covers the "other side of Sochi" for the Russia and India Report.

The "Olympic rush" brings "crowds of contract workers, cranes, and bulldozers to every corner of Sochi." One group of students in Sochi is working to preserve the city’s infrastructure through a project called "Disappearing Beauty."

"It is sad to see the most beautiful things disappear," one student says, "We hope that if we capture pictures…the authorities would pay attention and think of people who will continue living in this town after two weeks of Olympic Games."

The city will stage the 2014 Winter Olympics from February 7 to February 23.

Oksana Negorutsa reports to CBC News on her time in Sochi as a child. Negorutsa’s family still lives in the "resort destination on the Black Sea," which is now a "giant construction site filled with dirt and noise."

Negorutsa explores Sochi’s geographical history; changes occurring in the city now are "really hard to imagine." Effects from construction, pollution, and damage to natural foliage divide younger people and the "older generation" currently living in Sochi.

"Many people who are living through this transformation fear the worst but hope for the best," Negorutsa writes.

Cher turned down the opportunity to perform at the Sochi Olympics due to Russia’s anti-gay laws. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently passed a law prohibiting "adoption of Russian-born children to national and international same-sex couples." The award-winning singer opened up to Entertainment Tonight’s Rob Marciano about her decision: "I have gay fans that have kept me working and given me a livelihood when nobody else was thinking I was that hot. In my low points, they have never left."

American actor Wentworth Miller turned down a trip to Russia over the country’s controversial laws as well.

Coca-Cola’s "sparkling record" on the issue of gay rights is now being called into question. Protesters ask the top Sochi Olympic sponsor to end ties with the Winter Games in light of Russia’s anti-gay legislation.

Tokyo 2020

A report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) predicts the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo might improve relationships between Korean and Japanese residents in the Shin-Okubo district.

Zaitokukai is a nationalist group that "refuses to tolerate special privileges" for Korean and Chinese residents of Japan. The SCMP writes, "Within hours of the IOC announcing that Tokyo had been selected to host the 2020 Olympic Games, extremists linked to Zaitokukai were out in force once more."

Many argue the money spent on the Games should instead go to "quake relief." But others, like Hokkaido Bunkyo University professor Makoto Watanabe, insist the Games will bring the region's "competing nations closer together."

WSB Radio posts a video interview with Tokyo resident Kohei Jinno:

"Jinno was relocated to make way for Tokyo's 1964 Olympic stadium. Now, the government will evict him again to prepare for 2020's games."

In Other News

The Guardian features the "Extraordinary Bodies" circus company: "an integrated company ranging in years from 21 to 50 and made up of disabled and non-disabled performers." The company is an "unexpected legacy" of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad which accompanied last year’s Summer Olympics in London.

The Guardian’s John Ashdown covers "which of football's Olympic Stadiums aren't Olympic stadiums." Ashdown’s article also discusses football players making "swift competitive U-turns," the worst goal difference "ever recorded in a World Cup qualifying campaign," and football clubs that have summoned "psychic" assistance.

The IOC elected Thomas Bach of Germany as its ninth president on September 10. The New Zealand Herald reports that New Zealand officials hope to "lure" Bach to their country soon. The New Zealand Olympic Committee is aspiring to host an "IOC assembly before the end of this decade."

Kuwait’s Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah is "on the record" with 3 Wire Sports Reporter Alan Abrahamson. During the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, the sheik "completed a trifecta:"

"Tokyo, wrestling, Bach…Then, for good measure, DeFrantz."

Compiled byNicole Bennett.

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