With the Winter Olympics just days away, is Sochi a hot mess?

Sochi’s Bolshoi Ice Dome. Does this mean we’re in store for wild and unpredictable competition there?

hot mess: 1. An item that is dizzyingly chaotic in appearance; a situation or incidence that is extraordinarily bad.

Four days from now the 2014 Winter Olympics will begin, and there’s a huge lack of preparation for several events. Sochi is still scrambling to finish construction on some of its venues. There are continued security threats, with many athletes’ family members choosing to stay home rather than risk their safety in Russia. Some athletes are determined to protest Russia’s anti-gay legislation during the opening ceremony. And I haven’t even mentioned the uproar Sochi’s twin toilets have caused.

This time four years ago I was stoked, prepped, ready for the games to begin. So was the city of Vancouver. And just two years ago, the excitement and preparation for London’s Summer Olympics was almost indescribable. Move forward to 2014 and I am under-prepared, tired, and wary. My day job has left me little or no time to prepare, and the news coming from Sochi over the past year has made me frustrated and disappointed. It seems that Sochi is a hot mess, and for now so am I. We are both dizzyingly chaotic as we approach the eve of the XXII Olympiad.

Venue design is usually a topic that fills me with awe and excitement. Thus farSochi’s venue architecture leaves me bored, with one exception. The Bolshoi Ice Dome impresses until it’s lit up at night and suddenly resembles a Uno card. Where Vancouver and London had sustainability measures in place for their venues, the Russian government has yet to confirm plans for how it will recycle or maintain the upkeep of all the new construction in Sochi.

I am keeping a stiff upper lip and hoping for the best. This is the greatest winter sporting event in the world! I don’t want anyone or anything (toilets included) to dampen my spirits. I’m crossing all fingers that these Olympics will have the grace and awe of an Anna Pavlova, the smartness of a Kasparov, and the sparkle of a Fabergé egg. It is what fans and athletes yearn for, hope for, and most of importantly, deserve.

Swifter, Higher, Stronger.