And then there were three. Actually, there were always three bidding cities for the 2018 WInter Games. In a decision that contained no pressure to drop any of the contenders, the International Olympic Committee's executive board decided Tuesday to let all three bidders - Pyeongchang, South Korea; Munich, Germany and Annecy, France, continue on the... [...] Continue reading...

Do you think that the spontaneous national pride that we witnessed during the 2010 Winter Olympics is a one-off kind of thing? That the red mittens we saw on every other set of hands during the Vancouver Games were worn only to show pride in an Olympic context? I bet not. It may be the middle of summer, but I'm willing to believe that on Canada... [...] Continue reading...

Aboard the 213 Kazan-Moscow train - By midnight, when we'd finished off the bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label, Sergei Gorshunov, his wife Farida and I had circled the globe and come back to their world of Tatarstan. We'd talked about many things; his being an oilfield engineer in Basra, Iraq during the first Gulf War, my being a war correspondent... [...] Continue reading...

This is one of the things I love about Russia. Yes, it has lots of those depressingly grey Soviet-era apartment buildings. And yes, the major city landscapes are being remade today with the new Russian money that grows glass towers and modern architecture like weeds. But every once in a while you can find places where history is not to be trifled with... [...] Continue reading...

Kazan, Tatarstan - Okay, this isn't really Olympics-related, but while I wandered around this city, the site of the future 2013 Universiade Games, I came across some images I'd like to share. Visit the Kremlin up on the hill overlooking the Volga, a Unesco-declared World Heritage Site and you will find strong symbols of the religious tolerance... [...] Continue reading...

Jeff Lee from Russia: Gilbert Felli, executive director of Olympic Games for the IOC, talks about the legacy he thinks Vancouver will give to the Olympic movement. [...] Continue reading...

Jeff Lee in Russia. Bill Cooper, Director Commercial Rights Management, Vanoc shares his advice for prevention of ambush marketing and misuse of Olympic and Paralympic logos and the level of brand protection. [...] Continue reading...

Jeff Lee from Russia. Vanoc offers advice on venue construction and the importance of being on time and on budget, how to deal with a crisis and the importance of how construction workers are treated. [...] Continue reading...

Moscow - I don't want to seem like I am picking on Russian airlines, particularly S7, SIberia Airways, but they really would do better if they treated themselves like trains. At least they would be on time. In Russia, one thing you can set your watch on is the departure and arrival of trains. I mean down to the minute. There's a story about... [...] Continue reading...

ADLER AIRPORT, SOCHI - I know it's still four years away from the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paraympics, and that will give the Russians lots of time to fix the hiccups at their new airport. But I can tell you they're going to have their challenges. From what appears to be a misunderstanding about what people with disabilities need to the lack... [...] Continue reading...

Sochi - It's funny how when neither of you know each other's language a few simple gestures or a smile can bridge a divide. My taxi driver, Yura Bozhenov, tried to chatter up a storm in Russian as he whisked me to Adler Airport for a flight to Moscow. My Russian is limited to yes, no, please, thank you, beer and vodka. His was "I've... [...] Continue reading...

Krasnaya Polyana, Russia - Thank goodness the Vanoc crew could organize an Olympics better than they could organize a soccer game. At the end of a week of having every possible bit of information wrung out by the Sochi 2014 organizing committee and the IOC, some of Vanoc's crew decided to take part in the Sochi 2014 World Cup. They might as well... [...] Continue reading...

Sochi, Russia - Oh, those Russians, who said they don't have a sense of humour? A few reporters were given a tour of the ice venues being built for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. We all trooped up to the half-built Bolshoi Ice Palace, home of ice hockey, where on a wide concourse the Russians had set up a tent with images of what the ice cluster... [...] Continue reading...

Krasnaya-Polyana - If you want to try the local Russian cuisine in this mountain town that will be the site of the Sochi 2014 ski sports, you have mutton soup. If you don't mind being politically incorrect, you have the Barack Obama cake. I tried both. Last night, the first of a half dozen or so I'll spend here at the International Olympic Committee's... [...] Continue reading...

SOCHI - The flight attendants nonchalantly handing out barf bags just before we took off might have twigged most people to the idea that this was going to be a rough flight. But I'd already had fair warning. As I took my seat I looked up to see several ceiling air vents askew, and others held up with duct tape. Ah, my first experience flying on... [...] Continue reading...