Russia Is No Longer Cool

Four years ago during the XX Winter Olympics, the Russia House was by far the hottest party venue in Turin. It even had an open-air ice skating rink on the roof, where skaters were treated to free shots of vodka and an unending parade of scantily clad young women. There were plenty of brutish middle-aged men, too, but they somehow seemed less scary — and therefore more fascinating — since then-President Vladimir Putin had curbed the excesses of Russia’s wild capitalism.

The New York Times ran the headline “In Parties as Well as Podiums, Russia is Red-Hot.” The red-and-white apparel designed by the Italian-sounding but thoroughly Russian label Bosco di Ciliegi (rather ugly, in my view) was ubiquitous that year in Piedmont, and envious Swedes and Norwegians, abandoning their Nordic restraint, accosted Russian fans in the street and begged them for the coveted tickets to those all-night Russia House parties. It was the height of Russia’s worldwide popularity.

Unlike its far larger summer cousin, the Winter Olympics is a cozy affair held not during the season of mass tourism but in February, when only the rich and the idle can come out to play. By definition, it takes place at upscale, exclusive winter resorts. People going in for downhill skiing or figure skating are mainly upper class.

This makes the Winter Olympics an exclusive rich men’s club, the sports equivalent of the Group of Seven. It was quite a coup for Russia to be acknowledged as the unofficial social center in Turin. It seems that it was after the Turin Games in 2006 that Putin became obsessed with bringing the 2014 Olympics to Sochi.

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