Rusia përgatitet për Olimpiket e Soçit

A digital clock counts down the days to the February 7 opening of the Winter Olympics, Sochi, Russia, March 16, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA) 

Construction continues on the 40,000 seat stadium that will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

This speed skating rink will be used for the Olympic Games and then dismantled, Sochi, Russia, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

The Iceberg will host competitions of figure skating, a favorite sport of Russians, Sochi, Russia, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

The oval shaped “Bolshoy” Ice Dome will host hockey matches. After the games, it can be reconfigured for tennis, basketball and football, Sochi, Russia, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Ice machines smooth the ice prior to a hockey practice inside the Ice Dome, Sochi, Russia, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Red roofed housing for Olympic athletes rises between the Ice Dome and a new Radisson Blu hotel, Sochi, Russia, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

With 100,000 workers, Sochi has become the largest construction site in Europe, Sochi, Russia, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Subtropical plants acclimate in a nursery in preparation for massive landscaping planned for the months prior to the Olympics, Sochi, Russia, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Hussein Karimovich is hoping to collect $6,500 in pay he says a Russian contractor owes him and his Uzbek team for working on the Olympic ski jump, Sochi, Russia, March 15, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Residents in the Kudepsta neighborhood maintain a protest camp across a stream from a site chosen for construction of the region’s largest power plant, Sochi, Russia, March 16, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

The Olympic ski jump rises from the mountain mists above Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)