Sochi Snowboarder Coy on Possible Pussy Riot Protest
The Sochi Winter Olympics saw what could be the first protest by an athlete Thursday when a Russian snowboarder competed with a design on his board apparently resembling a member of the opposition punk group Pussy Riot.
Slopestyle rider Alexei Sobolev was the first Russian to compete at the Sochi Games, finishing tenth in a qualifying heat, riding a board displaying a female figure in a balaclava wielding a knife.
Pussy Riot, three of whose members were imprisoned in 2012 for a performance in a Moscow cathedral that was classed as "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred," is an all-female punk group opposed to President Vladimir Putin whose members typically perform wearing balaclavas.
"Anything is possible," Sobolev said when asked if the design was a homage to Pussy Riot, adding: "I wasn't the designer."
Sobolev, who will next compete in the snowboard slopestyle semifinals on Saturday, said it was "positive, unusual and pleasant" to be the first Russian to compete at the Sochi Olympics, which run through February 23.
The Olympics have been preceded by vociferous criticism of the Russian government from domestic and foreign activists. Some gay rights campaigners have called for a boycott of the Games over a law banning "gay propaganda" to minors. The appeal has gone totally unheeded by the athletes.
Russia Appeals for Global Ceasefire During Olympics
Russia’s Foreign Ministry called on all warring parties around the world to observe an "Olympic truce" on the eve of the opening of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The ministry urged those at war, particularly in Syria, to lay down their arms for the duration of the Winter Games, in accordance with a United Nations resolution of November 2013 co-authored by 121 states.
"First of all, our call is addressed to all sides in the bloody conflict in Syria, which has significantly destabilized the situation in the country and in the region as a whole," the ministry said in a statement Thursday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called Thursday for the "Olympic truce," echoing a tradition originally started in Ancient Greece.
Syria’s civil war, which has lasted almost three years, has taken the lives of at least 100,000 people, according to UN figures reported in July.
2014 Winter Olympic Medals Delivered to Sochi
The medals for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games arrived in Sochi Wednesday in an armored car. Russian Olympic medalist Svetlana Zhurova was given the honor of opening the first box containing one of the gold medals.
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