Sochi Olympics 2014: Sochi, We Have a Problem

As journalists stream into Sochi to cover the Winter Olympics, many of them are finding that their hotel rooms and other accommodations are unsafe, unsanitary or even unfinished. According to the Associated Press, only six of the nine media hotels are fully operational and some of them have stray dogs and construction workers wandering around inside.

In the old days, it would take quite a while for the general public to discover that one hotel lobby had no floor installed and that another hotel has no lobby at all. Now, thanks to social media, it takes only seconds for us to hear about how a reporter got stuck using the stairs because his hotel didn’t have a working elevator.

It’s time for some Twitter show-and-tell about #SochiProblems:

For all the complaining that journalists are doing about the conditions, at least things are safe… in terms of sex anyway.

In order to make sure that things stay safe in the bedrooms throughout the Olympic Village, International Olympic Committee officials have handed out 100,000 condoms. (It might have been wise to spend the money on plumbing instead of rubbers, but who knows?) According to a representative from the IOC, “The distribution of condoms in the village is part of the IOC’s involvement in the HIV and AIDS prevention." There are about 7,650 athletes who will be competing in the Games during a 16-day span.

In addition to the condoms, there has also been at least some progress at one of the hotels…kind of:

Evan Bleier is a freelance writer based out of wherever he can plug in his laptop. You can send him questions, comments and Buffalo wing suggestions @itishowitis or "like" CraveOnline Sports on Facebook

Sports Channel Editor Josh Helmuth also contributed to this article.

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