One Year Out From Sochi 2014, Putin Fires Russia's Deputy Olympic Chief

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi to be perfect, so when he found out who was behind the delays of the site's ski jumping complex, he did the understandable thing fired. The Olympic Committee's deputy chief Akhmed Bilalov, 42, was fired on Thursday, one day after Putin " personally asked who was responsible for the delay in the completion of the complex from 2011 to July this year," reports the AFP. That timing stinks for Bilalov in part because Bilalov was part of the organizing committee the secured the Sochi bid, and today just so happens to be mark exactly 365 to the days until the Sochi Olympics start.

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For the most part, what we have heard from the IOC chairs regarding the Russian facilities has mostly been good, even though they are costing Russia $50 billion (US)—five times more than the Games were expected to cost. "The site is very compact, it's high quality and is situated in beautiful surroundings," IOC President Jacques Rogge told the AP on Wednesday. The AP adds, "[m]ost of the venues have already been completed, while thousands of workers are still finishing up some Olympic facilities." Though some, like those working under Bilalov, apparently weren't working fast enough.