Media Watch -- Road to Sochi; Fukushima Clean Up

Countdown to Sochi

Whether he is jumping from seventh to a silver medal, as he did at the 2002 Winter Olympics, racing on one leg, as he did in 2005 in Bormio, Italy, ormarinating chicken wings in one of his many trophies,Sochi hopeful Bode Miller"commands attention."

While United States skier Lindsey Vonn trains to potentially compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics, NBC reports it is still unknown whether Tiger Woods will be in Sochi come February.

Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, North Caucasus project director for the International Crisis Group, says the peace brought on by the Sochi Games in the Caucasus will be short-lived. Sokirianskaia predicts the repression in the Caucasus "will inflict irreparable damage."

She adds, "After Sochi, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to rebuild trust and continue the rehabilitation of insurgents — even assuming there is the political will to do so."

Gay rights group GLAAD reports that New York state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has written an open letter to the major corporate sponsors for the Sochi Games. The letter urges them to withhold their funding "in the interest of human rights."

On Monday night, openly gay figure skater and NBC Olympic commentator Johnny Weir spoke at Barnard College in New York. Members of the gay rights group Queer Nation staged a protest during the event to encourage NBC to "tell the truth about the dire circumstances of LGBT Russians." During his speech, Weir dismissed Queer Nation protesters: "They say all these stupid things...I never supported the [Russian] government. I supported the people."

Since then, Weir has issued an apology to the protesters he dubbed "idiots."

New York Timesreporter John Branch explores Sochi’s intricate strategy to protect Rosa Khutor from the"potentially catastrophic and deadly destruction of avalanches."

Olympians such as Bode Miller, Lolo Jones, Ashley Wagner, Lindsey Jacobellis, Ted Ligety, Gretchen Bleiler, David Backes, Meryl Davis, and Charlie White present the "12 Days of Sochi."

Freestyle skier David Wise sits down with New York Times reporter John Branch to discuss the road to Sochi 2014, sponsorships, and "buying diapers by the boxful at Costco for his two-year-old daughter."

NBC features the latest animal to carry the Sochi Olympic torch – an eight-year-old camel.

Fukushima "Mess"

The Guardian’s Ian Sample says it could take Japan "forty years to clean up the Fukushima Daiichi power plant mess." As the country begins the complex and crucial task, so begins the "first major step in the toughest decommissioning project ever attempted." Tokyo is set to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

CNN's Anna Coren reports from the depths of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

In Other News

Brazilian sports minister Aldo Rebelo says six venues for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will be finished in January, and not by FIFA’s original December 31 deadline. "Construction problems - coupled with public protests about the money being spent - have delayed the preparations," says the BBC.

Compiled byNicole Bennett.

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