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Articles on Sochi 2014

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Vladimir Putin has developed populism across many fields, from his own image to Russian sport and media. Kremlin Press office

Russia’s headlong rush into populism

Understanding the populism of the Putin government is more urgent than ever as Russia plays a major geopolitical role in the Middle-Eastern balance.
Add a hashtag, join the Olympics conversation. Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Will social media define the success of the Olympic Games?

The mainstream media has knocked Brazil for the Zika virus, doping scandals and safety concerns. But citizen social media users, by revealing an alternate narrative, could even the score for Rio.
A taste of things to come: protests against the Sochi games. EPA/Andy Rain

IOC failing on human rights as democracies drop Olympic bids

Oslo has pulled out of the bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving only two cities in the running: the Chinese capital, Beijing, and Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. This virtually guarantees…
Australian skier Jessica Gallagher and guide Christian Geiger won bronze in the Women’s Visually Impaired Giant Slalom in Sochi. AAP/Sport the Library, Jeff Crow

Aussie Winter Paralympians in Sochi: a world away from 1976

Over the weekend, Australian Winter Paralympians broke their medal drought at Sochi to end the Games with two skiing bronze medals – one won by Toby Kane in Super Combined and the other by Jessica Gallagher…
Rio prepares to prevent a ‘World Cup of Terror’ EPA/Antonio Lacerda

Terror threat highlights the need for risk management in sport

What we anticipated might happen in Sochi, in the end did not. Following bomb attacks in the Russian city of Volgograd a couple of months prior to the Winter Olympic Games, several governments issued grave…
Austria’s Roman Rabl makes light work of the Sochi slopes. EPA/Vassil Donev

The incredible tech behind Paralympian daredevil stunts

Watching the Paralympics makes us forget about the term “disability” and the idea that sport with a disability is about limitations. The athletes on the slopes and rinks at Sochi are showing us that theirs…
It’s natural for athletes to experience some anxiety in the lead up to an event, but sports psychology can prevent it affecting their performance. porschelinn/Flickr

Chill out, cool down … athlete anxiety at the Winter Games

Whether an athlete is competing at the Olympics or Paralympics, anxiety management is one of the most common psychological issues experienced. Anxiety is an unpleasant emotion with distinctive features…
Vladimir Putin, Dimitry Medvedev and sports minister Vitaly Mutko oozing cool in Sochi. EPA/Mikhail Klimentiev/Ria Novosti

Russian confidence dealt a blow by Sochi Paralympics boycotts

The founding fathers of the Paralympics must be turning in their graves. The Sochi Paralympics is the latest in a long list of sporting events to be marred by politics. The 1980 Olympics in the then USSR…
Veteran skier Cameron Rahles-Rahbula – also the Australian flag bearer for the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympic Games opening ceremony – will compete in his fourth Paralympics. AAP Image/Sport the Library, Jeff Crow

Games on: preparing body and mind for the Winter Paralympics

The Winter Olympic Games has finished up in Sochi, but our Paralympic athletes are preparing themselves to compete in two of the six disciplines scheduled at the Winter Paralympic Games. So who are they…
A nod to the failed opening of the fifth ring in the opening ceremony featured in the closing ceremony … but the underlying cultural aspects are fascinating. ifindkarma/Flickr (cropped)

Sochi’s closing ceremony: the art, the circus and the spectacle

Tasked with winding down the over-exuberance of the build-up, Olympics closing ceremonies always have an anti-climactic tone. Terrorists from the Caucasus failed to disrupt the Sochi event, and the most…
Sochi’s bear mascot sheds a tear as the most expensive Winter Olympic Games come to a close. marcus_and_sue/Flickr (cropped)

The curtain drops on Sochi – and Fisht stadium is protest-free

The Closing Ceremony for the 2014 Sochi Olympics went off without a hitch last night. Again the theatrical extravaganza was mesmerising and some of the dazzle matched the earlier ceremony, but the finale…
In April 2011, men’s and women’s ski halfpipe events were approved to be included in the Sochi Winter Games. couloir/Flickr

Everyone’s a winner with new events at the Winter Games

As the Sochi Winter Games have now come to a close, it is possible to reflect on the unprecedented addition of 12 new winter sports events to the program. These new events – all of which have been added…
Don’t make a fuss: the Ukrainian women’s ski relay team celebrate their win at Sochi. Dmitry Lovetsky/AP

IOC rules at Sochi go too far with ban on black armbands

During the Sochi Games, much has been written about “ambush marketing”, and its applications at, and around, the Olympics. At Sochi2014, there have already been many examples of non-sponsors exploiting…
The lesser known ‘faces’ of Pussy Riot. Igor Mukhin at ru.wikipedia

Pussy Riot arrest at Sochi reinforces their cult status

It wasn’t long between spells in jail for two members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were briefly arrested at the Sochi Olympics, having only been released…

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