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Post by Admin on Feb 3, 2014 0:12:18 GMT
The Australian Olympic Committee has imposed travel restrictions on team members in Sochi, advising athletes not to travel into downtown areas outside the secured perimeter of Olympic Games venues. Team chief Ian Chesterman outlined the restrictions Saturday, saying they followed general advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs to "exercise a high degree of caution" in Russia. U.S. officials worry about Russia's response to a potential terror attack at the Olympics. Chesterman said the 60-member team was allowed to travel only on official Olympic transport between venues and not to go beyond "the security perimeters." He says "I don't think it will detract from the experience because the highlights of these Games are the regions they can still go to." While imposing what he called "minor restrictions," Chesterman said he was confident with security levels in Sochi, adding: "We feel very comfortable coming here, everybody here has already experienced a level of security is in place - it's intense, but not heavy-handed." Just weeks after a photo of the double dunny at the biathlon venue went viral last month, a second bathroom where Winter Olympics spectators can share a lavatory experience has been located. Associated Press reporters found the second set of toilets in a bathroom for female staff and volunteers conducting security checks of journalists at the new main press centre for the event. Sochi organisers denied knowing anything about the second twin toilet, then refused to comment — so whether the toilets were built in error will remain a mystery.
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Post by Admin on Feb 4, 2014 2:05:02 GMT
A pest control company has been employed to deal with stray dogs, but, although there have been noticeably fewer around the venues, there were still some running around the Olympic Park on Monday. Alexei Sorokin, boss of the pest control firm, said his company was involved in what he described as the "catching and disposing"' of dogs. He said he had attended a rehearsal of the Olympic opening ceremony last week and saw a stray dog walking in on the performers. "A dog ran into the Fisht Stadium, we took it away,'' he said. "God forbid something like this happens at the actual opening ceremony. This will be a disgrace for the whole country." A pest control company has been employed to deal with stray dogs at the Olympic Park in Sochi Bach, who took over from Jacques Rogge in September, is confident Russia will deliver a safe Games, with tens of thousands of army personnel and police officers due to be on duty. "Every big event nowadays is under threat," he said. "We have to address this. The alternative would be to surrender to terrorists." He reiterated the Olympic movement was opposed to all forms of discrimination following concerns about the impact of laws banning what President Vladimir Putin described as "gay propaganda". Athletes struggled to enter the slopestyle area on Monday, with enormous queues forming
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Post by Admin on Feb 4, 2014 23:25:52 GMT
Austrian Alpine skier Bernadette Schild – one of two competititors to receive a kidnap threat on the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympics. Two Austrian competitors have received kidnap threats on the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympics, heightening security concerns at the Games and triggering an investigation by counter-terrorism experts. It was not known who made the threats, in a letter to the Austrian national Olympic committee, although Islamist militants have warned of attacks to undermine President Vladimir Putin's hopes of using the Games to show Russia is a safe, modern state. Sources close to the Austrian Olympic team identified the competitors as Alpine skier Bernadette Schild and skeleton racer Janine Flock, the current European champion. Austrian media had earlier said it was Schild's sister, former world champion Marlies, who had been threatened. Bernadette Schild, of Austria, celebrates in the finish area after placing third at an alpine skiing women's Slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia on Feb. 2, 2014. "We informed the minister of internal affairs and Austria's police … there is no actual threat at the moment," Peter Mennel, general secretary of Austria's Olympic committee, said. "We have two security people here and if the threat is confirmed we will give additional security to the athletes," he said after flying into Sochi with the Austrian team, including one of the competitors who has been threatened.
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Post by Admin on Feb 7, 2014 22:52:19 GMT
Sharapova, who moved to Sochi at the age of two and went on to spend much of her childhood there, is expecting the Olympics to be a success. "Once I arrived here, I knew that all the athletes will feel extremely safe," the 26-year-old told CNN in Sochi. "I certainly had my doubts before, because I've been reading a lot about the city itself. Over the last few months I've been reading a lot of the media and watching television, but now I've seen how everything has come together." Despite her worries prior to returning to Sochi, the four-time grand slam winner has stressed that anybody attending the Games, including the athletes themselves, has no reason to be concerned. "The security has been tough but in a very safe way and in a safe manner," she said. "As an athlete, security is really important. I experienced it in the Summer Games and really appreciated it. I think it's extremely important and we all expect that kind of safety," she said, before turning her thoughts to the preparations. "For many years we were hearing whether everything would be ready or not: whether the the rail stations would be ready, how were the athletes going to go up to the mountains from the Olympic Park. "All those questions raised a lot of concerns, but once I got here I realized that everything would be alright." Sharapova explained that watching the Olympics was a far bigger childhood memory for her than viewing any grand slam tennis competition, and revealed that figure skating and ice hockey were the sports she was most looking forward to following. She is similarly excited about the transition of her former home city. "Many things have changed in the last 20 years or so," she said. "It has been such an incredible turnaround since winning the (right to host the) Olympics. I am so happy that everyone has a chance to come here and visit the true meaning of the city - because at its core, it's a very beautiful city that is so full of nature. It's such a unique opportunity to be able to swim in the Black Sea and then drive an hour up to the mountains to ski -- that's the type of experience we want to share with everyone that comes here."
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