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
Mark James, Northumbria University, Newcastle and Guy Osborn, University of Westminster
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 latest shocking footage from Sochi shows members of the Pussy Riot collective being whipped, apparently for protesting at the Olympics. The incident occurred yesterday, Wednesday February 19, as they…
The lesser known ‘faces’ of Pussy Riot.
Igor Mukhin at ru.wikipedia
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…
Despite the environment being, according to the Olympic Charter, the “third dimension of Olympism”, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to act on the enormous tonnage of lead shot scattered…
So, your country is one of 88 participating in the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014. How do you get noticed? The winter games may not get as much coverage as the those in the summer, so fashion is used as…
Figure skating is always the highlight of the Winter Olympics. With the introduction of a team competition this year, there are five figure skating events. And we’ve already seen much drama with records…
Sochi as a media spectacle has epitomised Vladimir Putin’s aspirations for his Russia.
EPA/Yuri Kochetkov
All modern Olympics employ directors who stage-manage the huge spectacle of the Games – and Sochi 2014 is no different. So what does this stage management tell us, internationally, and what is it intended…
Jana Pittman, an accomplished summer Olympian, will compete in the bobsleigh event this week in Sochi.
AAP/Dean Lewins
Jana Pittman has always been fast on the athletics track, but now she has the opportunity to display not only her speed, but her strength and versatility, when she becomes “the muscle at the back” of a…
Jana Pittman will be Australia’s first female athlete to compete in both Summer and Winter Olympics.
Dave Hunt/AAP
Reaching the Olympic Games is undoubtedly the highlight of any athletic career, but this year will be the first time a female Australian athlete has participated in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games…
Illegal dumping in the Mzymta River from Sochi’s building frenzy.
sochiwatch
The reports from Sochi’s newly built hotels and Olympic Village have not painted their construction in the best light, with tales of doors that wouldn’t open, yellow drinking water, and collapsing fixtures…
Russian biathlete Olga Medvedtseva was the only athlete to test positive to a banned substance in the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.
EPA/Gero Breloer
A quick look at Wikipedia shows that Winter Olympians test positive for doping at a far lower rate than their Summer Olympic counterparts. The past two Summer Olympics (London and Beijing) saw 34 drug…
Shaun White lost his gold medal, but kept his cool.
Andrew Milligan/PA
Though a slip cost him gold in the half-pipe, and perhaps his title as the king of 21st century snow sports, American snowboarder Shaun White is what a hero looks like in 2014. White is a phenomenon: a…
That’ll be 42 broken bones and still skiiing.
Mike Egerton/PA
The nature of competitive sport involves athletes putting themselves in high-pressure situations in which they are being constantly appraised, and Sochi is no different. So it is unsurprising that the…
Krasnaya Polanya, the site of the Sochi 2014 games, has long been a haunt of Russian artists and intellectuals.
EPA/Michael Kappeler
Sochi – currently hosting the Winter Olympics – looks like the beach resort it is, situated on the blue waters of the east coast of the Black Sea, and enjoying a sub-tropical climate. There is what looks…
Torah Bright, seen here competing in the 2013 Snowboarding and Free Style World Cup Test Event, won silver at the Winter Olympics – Australia’s first medal at these Games.
AAP/Chris James
You may have seen overnight snowboarder Torah Bright picked up silver in the women’s halfpipe at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. It was Australia’s first medal at these Games and brings our all-time Winter…
Circassian history lives on, but not at the Winter Olympics.
Misha Japaridze/AP
The Sochi Olympics shines a spotlight on the forgotten history of the Caucasus, but one group of people has not made news headlines in the same way as neighbouring Chechnya or Dagestan. The Circassian…
Australian skier Katya Cremer (right) flies through the air in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
AAP/Julian Smith
Some of the most exciting moments in the Sochi Winter Olympics will be in racing events such as ski and snowboard cross and short track speed skating. While it may seem obvious that vision plays a big…
Torah Bright is one of many Australian women competing in the Winter Olympics and challenging perceptions about women in sport.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games were declared the “women’s games” – with female participation in all sports and every nation represented by at least one female athlete. Although the Sochi 2014 Winter…
Warming temperatures will make it hard for many Winter Olympics host cities - including Sochi - to hold the Games again.
Flickr/Samsung Tomorrow
Only six of the previous 19 Winter Olympics host cities would be suitable to host the Games again by the end of this century due to warming temperatures, according to a new analysis. Average February maximum…
Honorary Professor, School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Canada; Adjunct Fellow, Olympic Scholar and Co-Director of the Olympic and Paralympic Research Centre, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University