The Sochi Olympics are supposed to give an enormous boost to Russia's global image and influence. After seeing how welcoming and modern Russia could be, who could hang on to stereotypes from the Cold War era or the mafia-blighted 1990s, or to more recent misconceptions of medieval, religion-driven tyranny?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-04/toilet-trouble-at-the-sochi-olympics.html
