"It is premature to call it a failure," insisted a harassed IOC spokesperson, although he conceded there were "issues".
Russian readiness was called into regular question throughout Wednesday and yesterday - and in language that few of the irate journalists could print in their own publications - as they were billeted in unfinished rooms. One Briton was shown to his in the small hours of yesterday, only to find workmen still putting the final touches to it. A Canadian was told not to wash his face because the water "contains something very dangerous". Others' rooms lacked running water entirely. Or lightbulbs. Door knobs and fridge doors came off in startled hands.
"In principle," insisted one official, "all the work is done." He added: "There are some elements working from a subtext that something is wrong, something is bad, there's a reason for this, there's a cunning plan."
Leaving aside Baldrick's possible involvement, Sochi 2014 is Putin's plan - one that began when he made the journey to Guatemala seven years ago to address the International Olympic Committee and persuade them to bring the first Olympic Games to post-Soviet Russia.
Since World War II there has never been such a close identification of an Olympics with an individual leader. He built it, at an estimated cost of US$51 billion ($62 billion), and the world is coming to see the most expensive Olympic Games ever. The trouble with that, for Putin at any rate, is there are some noisy bits of the world that do not like what they are seeing.
For many, this is the first sight of Putin's Games. Those that have been here a while are not surprised by the flaws: one British contractor said he had long ago been told to take care as there were a lack of man-hole covers around Sochi and the Olympic Park. "Don't step in puddles", he was advised.
The venues are stunning, but around them are fraying edges - and plenty of stray dogs that have avoided heavy-handed attempts to cull them. Today, when a security guard - and there are plenty of them too - raised the barrier into the Independent's apartment block, a dog took up the invitation and trotted through.
Around the venues and hotels, trees have been hastily planted and secured with ropes to keep them upright. At the airport Coca-Cola cheerleaders applauded arrivals, while workmen hurriedly pasted up Sochi 2014 posters.
In the mountains, trucks are ferrying snow from storage to the slopes. Last minute preparations, though, do not mark this out as an unusual Olympics. This is not as slap-dash as the Athens Games of 2004 and, anyhow, it is what the venues look like and what happens within them for which these Games will be remembered. At least that is what Putin hopes.
Russian athletes poured off flights from Moscow, clapping, smiling, filming themselves next to billboards. Four years ago Russia endured their worst Winter Games. Huge sums have been spent in putting that right on the field of play, and where there is a shortage of talent, Russian Olympic officials have taken a leaf out of Roman Abramovich's book and gone out and bought it. Ahn Hyun Soo, a five time short-track skating world champion, was lured from South Korea and granted Russian citizenship in 2011. He is now called Viktor.
"We are all counting on you," Putin told Team Russia as he watched the country's flag raised at Olympic Park.
As in London, a few home golds and everything can quickly seem right with the Olympic world, even at such great expense. But regardless of what the IOC might wish for, politics is part of all this. Today Putin will meet China's President Xi Jinping as well as premiers from Holland, Japan and Turkey.
Yesterday, one of the two high-profile Russian environmentalists who have spoken out against the Games was sentenced to five days in detention for "resisting legitimate police orders". Igor Kharchenko joins fellow activist Yevgeny Vitishko, who was given 15 days for swearing in public.
There's also the spectre of Russia's law against "gay propaganda" looming over the event.
But if these Games are like most others, the politics will melt away once they actually begin.
As the Olympic torch arrived in town, the chatter centred around who will light the Olympic cauldron. The gold medal-winning gymnast Alina Kabaeva has been widely tipped. That's the same Kabaeva rumoured to be Putin's new partner. Everything, it seems, comes back to Putin.
- Independent
