Putin’s Choice for Olympic Torch Lighter Tweaks Obama

[Larry1]

Putin’s Choice for Olympic Torch Lighter Tweaks Obama

The Russians chose a three-time Olympic champion figure skater who tweeted what some consider a racist picture of President and Mrs. Obama last summer to light the torch at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Irina Rodnina’s selection was an obvious insult to the American president and leaves the question of how much contempt Vladimir Putin has for Barack Obama open to interpretation.

Putin is on a clear winning streak against Obama, having bested him on Syria, Iran, and the Ukraine in recent months. When it comes to measuring the influence of world leaders, I don’t know of too many analysts who wouldn’t observe that Putin is on the rise and Obama is on a decline.

But this particular nudge from the Russian president goes beyond politics and hits the president on a very personal level. And the world — perhaps judging Obama as well — doesn’t seem to care.

The Washington Post reports:

In response to criticism of the choice of Irina Rodnina to help light the Olympic torch Friday, the CEO of the Sochi Games said Saturday that politics had no place on the Olympic stage.

It has become a frequent refrain of officials associated with the 2014 Games.

Rodnina, 64, a three-time Olympic figure-skating champion in pairs, tweeted a doctored photograph of President Obama last September showing the president, seated at a dinner beside the First Lady, with a banana super-imposed on his image. After removing the image following a barrage of criticism, Rodnina defended her post as her right to freely express herself.

Asked what factors led to her selection for one of the Olympic Games’ highest honors, Dmitry Chernyshenko, CEO of the Sochi organizing committee, noted Saturday that Rodnina was a three-time Olympic champion and among the world’s most respected athletes.

“I want to stress that the Olympics is not about politics,” Chernyshenko said, “and any political talks and discussions are inappropriate for the Olympic Games.”

Asked whether the International Olympic Committee vetted her selection, IOC spokesman Mark Adams: “From the IOC point of view, clearly it is not the IOC that chooses torch bearers. As Dmitry said, she was chosen for what she has done in sport. She is a triple gold-medalist in skating, and she has done a great deal of work for sport, and that is what she was chosen for. But it was a decision that Sochi took, as they did with all of the torch bearers.”.

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/02/08/putins-choice-for-olympic-torch-lighter-tweaks-obama/

Edited to add the tweeted photo.  You probably can't very well judge this controversy unless you see it.

[Shadow]

Of course the rainbow suits of the German delegation were a sign of courage.

[Slumba]

That photo is very wrong - but I lauged at it!

Amazing how wearing a color or collection of colors is considered "brave" when there is no real risk in doing so, no true danger you expose yourself to, and everyone you know in your social circle is likely to agree with you.  Seems a pretty low bar to be considered "brave" ...

[jone]

I statement by the German delegation might have been more appropriate.  I found that choice of colors an eyesore.  Many Olympians keep their garb for the rest of their lives.  Can you imagine pointing out to your grandchildren that apparel?

[2tallbill]

Of course the rainbow suits of the German delegation were a sign of courage.

Courage to wear something that would never earn you a single marketing Kopeck?
Except maybe the Senior PGA tour?

[2tallbill]

The people who decide on the uniforms for each country have several requirements.
1. They must be certifiably cRaZy
2. They must design something that nobody will ever wear again
3. They must use shower curtains recycled from bordellos

Canada Barcelona 1992




Hungary Beijing 2008




Japan Sidney 2000




Norway Sochi 2014




Malaysia London 2012




USA Sarajevo 1984

[mendeleyev]

The Russian volunteers at Sochi wear uniforms with rainbow colours and those were approved by Mr. Putin. This is how we handled the question at the Mendeleyev Journal:

In the midst of Russia's controversial law banning propaganda aimed at children, some are asking whether the German uniforms are meant as a protest to the Russian law?





The uniform discussion is quite trivial considering that over the past few years we've gone from a rainbow representing God's promise never to again destroy the earth by flood (next time will be by fire) to the rainbow more recently being used as a symbol of same gender sexual relations.

Meanwhile some 25,000 volunteers representing all Russian regions and 60 foreign countries are working at various sites in Sochi during the Olympics and they're immediately recognizable because of their uniforms, some say their uniforms are rainbow coloured, too.





On 17 January Mr. Putin met with volunteers at the XXII Winter Olympics and XI Winter Paralympics in Sochi. He liked their uniforms.





Let Germany be Germany and let Russia be Russia. That is our view.