Sochi continues the rise of the non-democratic host nations | Owen Gibson
Russia held its first F1 Grand Prix in the Winter Olympics host city and will soon have the World Cup. It is no coincidence
As a characteristically poker-faced Vladimir Putin escorted Formula Ones Tefloncoated ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone and the king of Bahrain around his Sochi Formula One track, which weaves in and out of the venues left behind by Februarys $51bn Winter Olympics, it was tempting to view it as the future of sport in microcosm.
Fringed by palm trees and a giant funfair, the first Formula One race in the subtropical Black Sea resort was designed to be exhibit one in Putins case that hosting the Winter Games was a genuine attempt to put Sochi on the map and not a vainglorious exercise in self-promotion.
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