It's almost showtime for Sochi, which may or may not have its shit together by the time the opening ceremonies start. While it's too late for Sochi to change its trajectory, perhaps the 2016 host city could jot down a few tips from what are widely considered to be the most successful Olympics ever: L.A., 1984.
In the late 1970s, hosting the Olympics was not a very desirable thing for a city to do. The games were seen as financially risky: Montreal's debt from the 1976 Summer Games totaled $1.5 billion dollars, which wasn't paid off until 2006. Denver was actually awarded the 1976 Winter Games but its voters did not approve public funding, so it went to Innsbruck, Austria. Plus, tensions were high when it came to international athletic competitions. Munich had suffered a deadly hostage crisis in 1972 and the Cold War was brewing. The 1980 games in Moscow were boycotted by the U.S. and other countries, and the U.S.S.R. and many other Eastern European boycotted the 1984 games. An early front-runner, Tehran, pulled out from the 1984 bidding process at the last minute due to social unrest.
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