Stoli with a twist...

Whew! The Sochi Olympics are history now and we got through the Games without a major incident. Unfortunately, the terrorists made their impact and kept a lot of international visitors away. The construction is still going on around the city and it is expected to continue for some time. But in spite of the many drawbacks, at the end of the Games, the sun was shining.

The best news is that in the final days the Russian organizers heeded our advisory committee's urging and focused on the athletes. The Olympic Park was a fortress and security was at the highest level possible. Once inside, you were about as safe as you could be in these circumstances.The crowds in the final days were mostly nearby Russian visitors and they had much to cheer about.  The athletes all received excellent benefits from their community hosts and the organizing committee. There was little they weren't afforded and it showed. Ultimately, it's the athletes who are the test. If they're happy then everyone feels good.

So our group suggested a twist for the closing ceremonies. I could say "spin" but there are bad connotations to that term in the PR world. The Games needed a positive close after a very rough start so we suggested to our Russian Olympic friends that they should carefully craft any statements about the success of the Games that were made publicly by the officials. We call them "qualifiers"...by adding or excluding words that keep you from overstating the situation.

Because of the clear athlete focus I just mentioned, "These were the athletes' games" became our key message for the closing. We were confident that the athletes would back up that statement. And as far as the event itself was concerned "Russia delivered what all it had promised" was the strongest claim we could make because you can argue for a long time about what those promises were and who made them. But there's no doubt that the Russians pulled it off.

The head of the local organizing committee Dmitry Chernyshenko and IOC President Thomas Bach reinforced those messages in their very calculated remarks at the closing ceremony. Chernyschenko is a native of Sochi and was very emotional about the transformation of his city from a barren field to an awesome Olympic Park by the sea in seven years. That shows a human side of the Russian personality that is not always out front. Russia and its leaders still have lots to prove on the world stage but on the sports field, they've gained our respect...right down to their medal count win, which they deserve.

With over 3,000 journalists in attendance, no stone could really go unturned. And there was a faction that wanted the Russians to fail. There were plenty of rocks being thrown during the entire process, from the construction problems ahead of time to security, cell phones, protests and even the weather. All in all though, the Games were well played. Even if their president went to any length necessary to make sure these Games happened there, the Russian people had much to be proud of and I am pleased to say that my committee helped them express that to the world.

Work on my 11th Olympic outing was really a roller coaster ride. From a very tense and confused beginning to an exciting celebratory finish, every day we encountered new and challenging situations. Coming up with answers and suggestions in front of my new computer on Skype made me feel a bit like a local reporter giving updates on the devastating east coast storms from the "news center" just 15 feet away from the anchor desk. But thanks to this new world of communications we live in, I was there.

Playing even a minor role in the messaging for this Olympics makes me proud.  I'm wearing my Sochi ball cap now but I'm told there is a Ushanka (one of those black furry Russian hats)on its way to me that I will cherish and promise to wear when it snows. Having this edition of the global games be a safe one was a very heart-warming experience. Now for that ice-cold Stoli...with a twist.

Outside Agitation

Pussy Riot...there's an Olympic topic worthy of  hours of discussion. Seriously, the shoe is now on the other foot for our Russian Olympic friends. They have been pushing hard on their own agenda in our meetings since before the Sochi Games began. Now they want to keep their heads down and stay out of the line of fire.

Outside agitators are what those who disrupt major events have come to be called. The Pussy Riot confrontation was definitely made worse by the Cossacks, a citizens group that has been allowed to help with security in Sochi during the Games. Sort of like the Guardian Angels, several hundred of these volunteers recently arrived to assist police and they followed and then roughed up ousted members of Pussy Riot, allegedly performance artists, when anti-Putin singing and chanting began within sight of Olympic banners (which are hard to avoid anywhere in Sochi and the surrounding area.)

We've spent the last few of our discussions sorting out the good and the bad in this situation along with the attention that the rioting in the Ukraine is bringing to the Games. Our conclusion is that none of this activity is directed at the Olympics and that security and the organizers are being baited into association by proximity.

Sochi to Kiev is about 650 miles. That's a 10 hour drive by car and an hour in a jet airliner. It may sound close to some but the two places are world's apart. The protesters in Kiev are becoming very violent and so is the reaction on the part of authorities. Word today is that some sort of an agreement may be reached. But what does any of  it have to do with the Games? Nothing, really. It's just turmoil in another part of the world that we Americans don't understand very well. But world news here continues to be thin in scope and that's another story.

The Pussy Riot situation is most perplexing. It was a bad public happening from every viewpoint. The performers who were trying to protest in Sochi have been disavowed by the original founders of the dissident punk band publicly and seem to be trying to gain attention for themselves and not for a cause. The Cossasks clearly overstepped their bounds and have been mildly chastised by the police. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) has raised their hands and said NOP (not our problem).

So what is the problem? My committee's summation is that the Olympics have become a global magnet for groups of all sizes, shapes and ideologies to vent their frustrations. And with literally thousands of media in attendance, stories will be told or at least acknowledged. Attempting to keep the focus on the athletic competition is becoming increasingly difficult. The IOC can't control what happens outside the grounds. The local government has a difficult job to mitigate the flare ups. And world just keeps watching.

Outside agitation continues to grow.  We have four days left to finish these Games in peace. Our advice to the Russians is, indeed, to keep their heads down. Focus on the competition and those visiting the event in person. Thus far, those folks are being kept safe. This amazing sports gathering supersedes the problems of the world. Whenever world politics have been injected into the mix, wildfires have occurred. Our Russian hosts are definitely feeling the heat now. All of us involved want to the sun keep shining on the Olympics into next week...but it's a full time job.

More to wrap up later...