The Olympics in Sochi is far more than a sports competition. It is a prominent symbol of Russia’s return on the world stage, a symbol of the political revitalization of this, the geographically largest country of the world. This is the event Moscow has been waiting for ever since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Empire – historic developments Vladimir Putin has called “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century”.
