This Ridiculous Photo Of Two Toilets Is Becoming A Symbol Of Waste At The Sochi Olympics
A photo of two toilets in one bathroom stall at the Olympic Biathlon Center in Sochi, Russia has prompted fresh criticisms about waste and corruption at the games.
The photo:
Seeing double in the Gentlemen's Loo at the Olympic Biathlon Centre #Sochi pic.twitter.com/a1HoilU9zn
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) January 20, 2014
With a ~$50 billion price tag, the Sochi games are nearly 20% more expensive than the 2008 Beijing Olympics — the most expensive Olympics ever. The organizers went $39 billion over budget with projects such as a 31-mile highway/train line that ended up costing $8.7 billion, and could have been paved with Beluga caviar for cheaper.
Adam Taylor/Business Insider
Check out this BusinessWeek story for a full rundown of wasted funds at the Sochi games.
Two toilets in one stall is hardly as wasteful as an $8.7 billion road. But with critics already out in full force, one ridiculous toilet photo was all it took to reignite the debate.
Putin nemesis Alexey Navalny wrote on Twitter, " This is the men's room in the media center for the Sochi Olympics 1.5 billion rubles."
Это мужской туалет в медиацентре сочинской Олимпиады за 1.5 млрд рублей. pic.twitter.com/GfKluVwl5b
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) January 20, 2014
Garry Kasparov went off after he saw the picture.
But the toilets in Sochi will create a sense of community! This is what $50+ billion gets you! http://t.co/pYTDZAGPNf pic.twitter.com/Wy6VPEUxmX
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) January 20, 2014
Toilets aside, spending/stealing $50b of Russia's money to destroy a beautiful place in attempt to showcase a dictator's power is no joke.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) January 20, 2014
Of course security also a huge issue. Environment, climate, bigotry, corruption... Sochi was always a scandalous choice, now even clearer.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) January 20, 2014
Someone did some photoshopping (Medvedev and Putin):
После вчерашней критики туалета в олимпийском центре биатлона там, наконец, навели порядок. pic.twitter.com/4ApM78thwk
— Рустем Адагамов (@adagamov) January 21, 2014
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