03.02 Only 3% of Sochi Olympic Rooms Unfinished – IOC President

SOCHI, February 3 (R-Sport) – Sochi’s situation with unfinished accommodation for Olympic guests is embarrassing for the hosts but only affects a small fraction of rooms, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said Monday.

With four days to go until the opening ceremony at Russia’s first-ever Winter Games, 97 percent of all hotel rooms have been delivered on schedule, Bach said when asked whether he was concerned about the issue.

“I know how embarrassing it is when you arrive and the room is not ready,” he told a news conference at Sochi’s Olympic Park.

“I feel for the people concerned,” Bach said, in reference to the Russian hosts. “Everybody affected has been offered a [different] room,” he added.

Citing Russian Games organizers, Bach said 24,000 rooms had been completed on schedule, and the outstanding problems would be fixed in time for the Games.

Some R-Sport staff arriving at their designated accommodations inside the Olympic Park on Monday found their rooms all but finished, with any outstanding issues mainly cosmetic.

Other media have reported brown water running from hotel room taps and builders still inside the complexes working on unfinished rooms.

All the competition facilities for the Games themselves have been ready for a year or more.

The Olympics officially open on Friday, though the first preliminary competition is set for Thursday.