The Snowballing Costs of Sochi’s Olympic Venues

Russia is spending a whopping $51 billion on the Winter Olympics in Sochi, topping the $40 billion spent by China on the 2008 Summer Olympics which had three times the number of events. In comparison, Vancouver spent a mere $8.7 billion when it hosted the Winter Olympics in 2008.

Costs have accelerated dramatically with the vast majority of Sochi’s flagship projects coming in catastrophically over budget. Chief among these is the Laura Biathlon and Ski Complex which was originally supposed to cost $500 million. It is now estimated that final costs will top $2.7 billion.

Likewise, the Fisht Olympic Stadium was originally due to cost $49 million. The cost has now ballooned to approximately $519 million – 10 times higher than planned. It doesn’t stop there – some observers have predicted the end price may reach a staggering $700 million.