# Would you visit the Sochi olympics? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282 "2014-01-20T17:00:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/21 "2014-01-20T23:16:23Z")
I’m not going to watch it on TV, why the hell would I go there? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/22 "2014-01-20T23:18:17Z")
Put me down for negative. I don’t like being cold, I don’t like crowds, especially if they are rowdy, I can watch it at home in the warm snuggled up on my sofa. I don’t like the idea of the whole Putin - Gay thing, I don’t like the threat of terrorism, being in a wheelchair makes me pretty dependent on others for safety, I can’t just get up and run if something goes all wahooni shaped fast. I really don’t trust the level of random medical care in Russia. I have a coupel serious food allergies that can kill me, or make me seriously ill, and I really don’t want to try to depend on the kindness of strangers to make sure I can eat something, one mistake and I am dead. I will say that while there is a lot of corruption in Russia, I do know a number of Russians that I have gamed with and the vast majority of people are nice - it is the occasional one that you will run into that is officious and can make life nasty at whim. Them, I don’t trust. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/23 "2014-01-20T23:32:44Z")
One of my ex employees is competing there, I’d go there in a heartbeat. I was prepared to go to Whistler, but this was a little more difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/24 "2014-01-20T23:43:36Z")
Well, I was told from an early age that dropping me on The Soviet Union would be considered an act of war. …so, that’d be a ‘no’. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/25 "2014-01-21T00:55:11Z")
No deal. The Games make things a crazy mess even in the best organized places. I’m sure everyone’s crossing their fingers that things work out, I hope it goes on well. I’ll visit Russia some day, but most likely at some time when there’s no such extraordinary “marquee” event going on to multiply the hassle factor. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/26 "2014-01-21T01:11:14Z")
I have a friend competing and his wife and kids are staying home. This is the first Olympics they’ve missed since he started competing and it’s going to be his last but they just can’t justify the risks and hassles and costs. Kind of sad really and making them wish that he had retired after Vancouver but he was unhappy with his performance there and decided to try for 4 more years. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/27 "2014-01-21T01:16:08Z")
Without a second thought, I’d go. I LOVE the Winter Olympics, and I’ve always wanted to visit that part of the world (the Black Sea/Caucusus). Not Russia itself, as I’ve already been there several times. I have friends that will be working out there (as photographers) and I’d live to be in their place. I’d work for free to be there and experience it. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/28 "2014-01-21T03:17:45Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > I have a friend competing and his wife and kids are staying home. This is the first Olympics they’ve missed since he started competing and it’s going to be his last but they just can’t justify the risks and hassles and costs. Kind of sad really and making them wish that he had retired after Vancouver but he was unhappy with his performance there and decided to try for 4 more years. Mind sharing what event he competes in? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/29 "2014-01-21T04:06:20Z")
Absolutely. I’d attend hockey and figure skating. I’d be happy to go. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/30 "2014-01-21T04:07:45Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > I have a friend competing and his wife and kids are staying home. This is the first Olympics they’ve missed since he started competing and it’s going to be his last but they just can’t justify the risks and hassles and costs. Kind of sad really and making them wish that he had retired after Vancouver but he was unhappy with his performance there and decided to try for 4 more years. Who is it? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/31 "2014-01-21T04:59:29Z")
Olympic hockey is pretty much the only sporting event (out of all sporting events, not just the Olympics) that I’m ever at least somewhat interested in watching. Even then my level of interest would not motivate me to travel to and from Sochi, even for free. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/32 "2014-01-21T05:54:40Z")
I have no interest in any of the sporting events, I hate cold, I’ve never heard anything that made me want to visit Russia, and their attitude towards gays girds my grid. So no. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/33 "2014-01-21T07:41:11Z")
> [@susan](#): > > (c) I’m gay. I won’t visit a country where the President tells me not to speak to children. > > And where gay men are being beaten up. If that was my criteria for not visiting places I’d never step out my front door. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/34 "2014-01-21T08:12:05Z")
Well, Russia can provide pretty good security if it really wants to, so if Putin says “no terrorism” I wouldn’t fear that so much. It would be interesting to see what the security was really like, and I wouldn’t be surprised if no terrorism occurs, or if it’s attempted it gets foiled quickly. This is a huge national pride thing for them, and I think Putin went so far as to say “gays should feel welcome.” Lol, I know. Baby steps. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/35 "2014-01-21T08:12:59Z")
My answer is perhaps beside the point of the question: but – all sports, of any and every kind, bore me to tears. I wouldn’t go to any sort of Olympics: not if they were happening in what I regarded as the nicest place in the world, and not if I were paid to go. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/36 "2014-01-21T09:01:28Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > No, because > (a) I’ve just been to the London Olympics, so these ones don’t really interest me, plus I went to the Champions League final in Moscow (the superbowl of soccer) and there were more troops on the streets than fans, and > (b) I’ve been to Russia twice and have had my fill, TYVM. Well, St Petersburg was beautiful but Moscow is awful and the people can be really unfriendly, which leads me to… > (c) I’m gay. I won’t visit a country where the President tells me not to speak to children. (d) you won’t be welcome anyway. Unfortunately. Wait, you saw Terry call on his arse? Lucky woman I would go happily. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/37 "2014-01-21T10:21:11Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > (d) you won’t be welcome anyway. Unfortunately. Wait, you saw Terry call on his arse? Lucky woman > > I would go happily. Unfortunately I was with chelsea supporters. And it was pissing down with rain. And they escorted us to the tube station with tanks. Nice. If there’s terrorism threats, I’d be more concerned by the Russian military over-reaction than the slim chance of being caught in a bomb, having seen their response to having a few football fans in town. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/38 "2014-01-21T10:24:46Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Well, Russia can provide pretty good security if it really wants to, so if Putin says “no terrorism” I wouldn’t fear that so much. It would be interesting to see what the security was really like, and I wouldn’t be surprised if no terrorism occurs, or if it’s attempted it gets foiled quickly. This is a huge national pride thing for them, and I think Putin went so far as to say “gays should feel welcome.” Lol, I know. Baby steps. He did say that, followed by ‘just don’t talk to children please’. Lovely. And as I said in the previous post, I’ve no doubt the Russian military will be all over any terrorism threats, but having seen them up close, I can’t imagine it’s exactly going to enhance the visitor experience. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/39 "2014-01-21T12:17:18Z")
I would love to see them, but I’d be too scared to go. I’m a big chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/40 "2014-01-21T12:19:13Z")
No, but concerns about terrorism are the least of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282.md?page=3)