Terrorism: A Major Obstacle of the 2014 Olympics

Ensuring safety at the Sochi Olympics seemed nearly unattainable with the major terrorist attack in Volgograd by two Black Widows mere months before the start of the Games (end of December 2013). Volgograd is a tourist destination roughly 640 km away from Sochi, which connects Sochi to the rest of Russia. This terrorist attack killed 34 people. They bombed Volgograd, killed taxi drivers and killed police who responded to these attacks (1). Russia needed to act to ensure a safe and secure venue especially with this incident which occurred so close to the time and home of the 2014 Olympics.

Russia invoked a “ring of security” which enveloped Sochi, and the United States also sent two warships to tighten the security at the shores of the Black Sea (1). Additionally, Sochi was swarmed with 100,000 soldiers and police officers, and adopted security measures, such as surveillance technology and rocket launchers located in the hills (2). In fact, the number of people who were employed in security for the 2014 Winter Games were double the amount employed for the London Olympics (1). In the past 13 years (since the founding of the Black Widows terrorist group after the war between Russia and Chechnya) there have been 124 suicide attacks in Russia (3). Why would you ever want to risk hosting an Olympic Games in the mist of that potential danger?  

Warning of Black Widow terrorists in a mall in Sochi

During the months leading up to the Games, the police swept the Sochi area, searching through many houses as if expecting to find a terrorist. The ideology in Russia is security equals control; however, this concept falls short of reality. They invaded the locals’ homes, ignored human rights and disrupted the residents’ lives (3). The police never found a terrorist, therefore, I think that their efforts were misguided and poorly judged. If a terrorist group was planning on taking advantage of this world stage to get media attention, they could have planned well ahead and entered Sochi prior to the increase in security. Around two weeks prior to the Olympics (as mentioned in the previous post), a couple of Black Widows were seen in Sochi. Hence, this method of protection was very ineffective.

Chechen brothers responsible for the Boston bombing

I thought it would be fitting to draw some parallels between what could have happened at the Olympics this year and what happened at the Boston marathon last year. The Boston bombing shows the impact of such a tragedy at non-political events, and the harsh reality that we don’t often experience in North America. The Boston bombing was so surprising and unexpected, and it scarred many lives. However, at the Sochi Olympics we could have foreseen an attempted bombing due to the vicinity of Chechnya and the Republic of Dagestan. The two brothers who bombed the Boston marathon were Chechens from Dagestan. If Chechen terrorists were able to cause damage in a place so far from Chechnya, they could have potentially been able to attack an event a couple hours away. Another comparison that could be made between the marathon and the Olympics is that they both involve a large gathering of people. Thus, they were major targets for terrorist attacks. 

Thankfully there were no terrorist attacks at the 2014 Olympics. If I was an athlete competing in the Olympics, I’m not so sure that I would have had the courage to go to the Sochi Games and if I did, I think I would have been distracted by this threat. I don’t think I would have put my life at risk for sports, especially considering the tragic event that happened in Boston last year. At this year’s Boston marathon, the runners were very brave in returning to the place were terrible memories were created and hearts were broken. I agree with this year’s runners in Boston; I still think that we can’t let such threats control our lives (they proved that this past weekend). However, the tough decision of risking your life to compete at the Olympics could have been prevented for the 2014 Games, by selecting another location. So Putin got lucky. In the future, the Olympic committee should take the surrounding areas into greater consideration when choosing the host city, to reduce the chance of terrorist threats.  

(1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-glyn-williams/the-brides-of-allah-the-t_b_4761027.html

(2) http://www.dw.de/sochi-the-most-extravagant-winter-olympics-ever/a-17411857
(3) http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/sochi-security-venues-safe-but-suicide-bombers-feared-1.2518208