Austrian alpine skiers (LtoR) Georg Streitberger, Klaus Kroell, Max Franz, Joachim Puchner, Romed Baumann pose in the Olympic Rings on February 4, 2014 at the Mountain Olympic Village at the Rosa Khutor Alpine centre, four days prior to the start of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP Photo)

Activists stage a theatrical play where gay people are restrained by others wearing masks depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a protest against Russia's new law on gays, in central London, Saturday, August 10, 2013. Hundreds of protesters, called for the Winter 2014 Olympic Games to be taken away from Sochi, Russia, because of a new Russian law that bans “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” and imposes fines on those holding gay pride rallies. (Photo by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP Photo)

“Exactly one year before the long awaited Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin went to Sochi personally to see how the construction is going. After receiving a report saying the ski jumps that were supposed to be ready in 2011, are not completed still, while their price has sky-rocketed from 1.2 billion to 8 billion roubles, he commented, “Good for you. Good job”, and then fired the vice president of the Olympic committee. Russian artist Vasily Slonov painted his view of the upcoming games, giving a new interpretation to the adored Russian mascot Cheburashka, and combining officially endorsed stereotypes of Russia with grimmer and less accepted ones”. – Ruskie.info. (Photo by Vasily Slonov)