Goodbye Letter to Sochi

What's This?

Fireworks are seen over the Olympic Park during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Friday, Feb. 7, 2014.

Image: Julio Cortez/Associated Press

By Sam Laird2014-02-23 18:33:06 UTC

Dear Sochi,

Most of us never really met you. But in this age of Internet romance, does that even matter?

We had our thing together — an affair as intense as it was abbreviated — but the Winter Olympics are all over now. It's time to briefly look back, to take measure of these several weeks and months that we spent together.

You were never perfect. We knew that going in; you were what some would call no good. But it's not your fault they built a winter sporting palace in a coastal resort region so balmy that only a last-second shipment of salt may have saved the games' snowy slopes.

And the people who raised you certainly weren't ideal.

On one side, the Vladimir Putin-led Kremlin that built its Olympics on a suspiciously bloated budget, brutalized the environment and expressed not one iota of genuine remorse for its troubling history of human-rights abuses. On the other, an International Olympic Committee that — faced with a clear chance to stand firmly on the right side of history amid Russia's grim social climate — elected to hide behind bureaucratic rhetoric instead.

But your good things! Oh, how they shone through, too. There were big moments, bold-faced in their inspiration and positivity: the Ukrainian skier who quit the Olympics mid-games in solidarity with protesters back in Kiev; the American athletes who wouldn't return home without adopting stray dogs; the Netherlands' astonishing speed-skating dominance; the two friends who tied for a gold medal. The list goes on.

Then there were your plethora of tiny, charming traits that a hurried passerby would easily miss: the Olympian with the perfect attitude; the slapstick photo finish in men's ski cross; the Mighty Ducks moment between two Canadian speed skaters. Even the snow ended up being not that bad, all things considered.

CryingWInnerAP

Switzerland's Dario Cologna cries on the podium after winning the gold during the men's cross-country 30k skiathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014,

Image: Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press

But forget the keeping score, the tallying of wins and losses. You were sometimes good. You were sometimes bad. You were never boring. But, most importantly of all, you showed us who we are for better and worse— at least, at this unique moment when viewed through a certain prism of sports, culture and politics. Just like London did in 2012, Vancouver did in 2010 and Beijing did in 2008.

Most of us will remember your big-picture social and political contexts — Russia's refusal to accept a rising tide of gay rights and the Ukrainian uprising's ties to the games, for starters. And many of us will remember the exact spot we were when we live-streamed the Team USA vs. Canada hockey matches at work this week. Just like we recall where we witnessed Usain Bolt's brilliance in London, or the classic U.S. versus Spain gold-medal basketball game in Beijing.

I hate to be the one to break it to you, Sochi: But for most of the us, you aren't a city, or an elaborately regulated international event or a even just a string of letters that fits neatly in between "#" and "problems." No, what you are is a concept, a crooked set of impressions and ideas. Our relationship with you was one that never existed IRL, but it was definitely a relationship.

Sochi Olympics Speedskating Men

Speed-skating fans wait for the start of the men's 1000-meter speedskating race at the Adler Arena Skating Center at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Image: David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Later, when Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018 incite our obsession — and you know they will — some of us will think back on you for a moment, Sochi. We'll be watching the games in a different place and with different companions than we did this month.

Hopefully, when we see Team USA and Canada play hockey again four years from now, we'll all be in better health, more peaceful emotionally and more blessed professionally than when we watched last week. Widening the lens, hopefully some of the world's large-scale political injustices will have been righted, both in Russia and places beyond.

But, really, we all know the truth. The past two — or four, or eight — years have brought a mix of triumphs and setbacks, both individual and collective. Yet amid them all, we'll have a marker in 2016, 2018 and 2024. We'll be able to remember just who it was we were, and what kind of world we inhabited in February 2014 — in many ways, because of you.

That's your greatest gift of all, Sochi. You were a mirror for the world to stare into for two long weeks. We saw what stared back at us, what looked good and what needs work. We studied the lines on our collective face, so we can check back later and see what's changed. And for that priceless offering, we thank you.

So fare thee well, Sochi. While time plods on, we'll never forget you.

But seriously — you should still do something about those toilets.

Love,

Some of your adoring, criticizing, imperfect public