Olympian Drama

sochi, russia’s resort town and future location of the 2014 Summer Olympics, is becoming an arena for political games and ego-boosting campaigns as some two dozen candidates competed in the city’s mayoral race, set for April 26.

The most likely winner was acting mayor Anatoly Pakhomov, appointed this winter after his predecessor suddenly quit to “take care of his health.” Boris Nemtsov, a Sochi native who has fallen out of favor with the Kremlin and is now one of the leaders in the Solidarnost party, registered for the race and has already faced two scandals: an unidentified youth splashed his face with ammonia, and an inexplicable wire transfer of money into his bank account nearly disqualified him. Calling the transfer a Kremlin provocation, Nemtsov wired the money back where it came from: Brighton Beach.

Another oppositionist, businessman Alexander Lebedev, lately known for his acquisition of a British newspaper, proclaimed on his blog that he will solve the growing city’s housing problems and hold a referendum on whether the Olympics should still take place in Sochi or be spread among several Russian cities. He too received a suspicious bank wire on the day he registered, from “three Sochi teenagers,” and wired the money back, fuming.

Andrei Bogdanov, the Masonic presidential candidate from 2008, has joined in as well, despite previously stating that he was leaving politics. He has proposed turning Sochi into “the Russian Nice” and said he would develop small businesses.

Andrei Lugovoy, a prime suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, announced that he would run, but the Liberal Democratic Party retracted his candidacy at the last minute, replacing him with a less ominous local figure.

Female candidates include prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova, whose priorities for the resort town are building a modern sewage system as well as “the world’s best theater.” Her campaign is being headed by a former PR manager of Madonna’s 2006 concert tour in Russia.

The event is sure to gather national attention due to the mayor’s control over Olympic construction projects and to the significance of hosting the 2014 games for Russia more generally. But troubles are brewing: Olympic construction has been slowed by the economic crisis, while local residents and environmentalists are increasingly vocal in protesting displacement and construction in the UNESCO-protected nature reserve. With so many problems laid bare, and the International Olympic Committee’s next visit scheduled for May, one can only marvel that such a job would be attractive to anyone at all.