PREPARATIONS
When Russia bid to host its first Winter Olympics in 2007, a document quoted an expected cost of around $12 billion. That figure has ballooned to around $50 billion. That's more than four times over budget and surpasses the cost of Beijing's 2008 Summer Games -- making it the most expensive Olympics ever, summer or winter.
Russia had less than seven years to transform what was a fairly low-key seaside resort town into a Winter Olympics venue. The project required staggering feats of engineering in building a new freeway and rail link up a mountain, and a ski resort on the top. And yet questions about Sochi's readiness have dogged the final run-up to the Games.