Latvia’s President to Attend Sochi Opening Ceremony
Latvia’s President Andris Berzins will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, his spokeswoman said Thursday.
Confirmation of the Latvian leader’s attendance on February 7 came a day after the US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, dropped heavy hints that President Barack Obama would skip the ceremony and send a delegation instead.
Relations between Latvia and Russia have been strained by differing views of the aftermath of World War II. Latvia’s official position is that it was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940 until independence in 1991.
Russia, as a successor to the Soviet Union, disagrees and argues that Latvia and the other Baltic States of Lithuania and Estonia are attempting to diminish the Soviet role in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Meanwhile, Germany’s President Joachim Gauck will not attend the opening ceremony, magazineDer Spiegel reported, in what has been widely seen as a protest over human rights issues in Russia.
Poland, which has often had tense relations with Russia, has vowed to send a delegation. But it will not include Prime Minister Donald Tusk and may not feature President Bronislaw Komorowski.
Georgia, which fought a war with Russia in 2008, has said that it will send athletes to compete in Sochi but no government officials.
The opening ceremony will be held at the 40,000-seat Fisht Olympic Stadium in the center of the coastal Olympic Park.
Reunion Weekend
The following is an entry from 1980 U.S. ice hockey gold medalist Jim Craig's blog.
When you hear the word "reunion", what comes to mind? Is it getting together with your old high school or college classmates? Is it that quarterly dinner you have with a bunch of fraternity brothers or sorority sisters? Is it an excuse just to go out with old friends from work or from your childhood? For me, the word reunion takes on a different meaning this weekend as I see many of my former Olympic teammates. I’m Jim Craig from the 1980 Gold Medal winning Olympic hockey team and I’ll be busy with some old friends this coming Saturday!
About sixteen of us will be together this weekend spending some time with fans at a show. It’s a chance for us to see each other, while also interacting with those who have supported us throughout the years. Our reunion will be like many of the ones I mentioned above. There will be hearty handshakes and hugs, we’ll talk about our families and see how everyone is doing. We’ll kid each other, joke around and show pictures of loved ones. We’ll catch up on work and share stories about "the good old days." That’s the great thing about being a part of a team. Many of us, who have not seen each other in years, will seem to pick up the conversations right where we left them.
Remember, when the 1980 Olympic hockey team was assembled by our Coach, Herb Brooks, many of us didn’t even like each other. We were twenty kids who played for rival colleges in different parts of the country and it was hard for us to set aside those differences. In my book, Gold Medal Strategies, Business Lessons from America’s Miracle Team, I discuss in detail many of the ups and downs we had as we first learned to respect each other. Ultimately, we found ourselves truly caring about each other. We were, and still are, a family. We went to battle together and, because of our tight-knit unity and belief in each other, we won a Gold Medal when most everyone told us we didn’t have a chance.
The Sochi Winter Olympic Games are just two months away, yet many of the teams you will see competing will have been together for several months or even years. They have built friendships that will truly last a lifetime. As you watch the games, take a look at the genuine bonds of friendship and respect that the athletes have for each other.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JimCraigUSA where I’ll post some pictures from my team reunion this weekend. Hopefully, after our gold medal win 34 years ago, you’ll be able to recognize us! Until next time, this is Jim Craig reminding you to take the time to build those friendships that last a lifetime, 34 years from now, you’ll be glad you did.
Published by exclusive arrangement with Around the Rings’ Sochi 2014 media partner RIA-Novosti.
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