WASHINGTON, DC Feb 3 (DPI) – Some of the western press has already written off the Winter Olympics as a “catastrophe” (Washington Post). Meanwhile, the venue, the Black Sea town of Sochi, is a “peculiar mix of grandiosity and bungling” (NY Times).

Last week NBC’s Richard Engel said the selection of Sochi is akin to staging the games in Crawford, TX, Martha’s Vineyard or Kennebunkport, Me. – a reference to strongman Vladimir Putin’s stubborn insistence to host the games in a personal vacation spot.

Already CNN producers are tweeting about the brown water pouring from their hotel room spouts.

And The Games haven’t even started yet.

The American media are attacking the Russian autocrat with unusual energy – certainly the press would be more forgiving of botched preparations in another, less developed country.

But thanks to Putin’s ultranationalism, general xenophobia – and not to mention homophobia – the western press is having at it.

The Post’s Sally Jenkins for one penned a vicious column last week (which was in fact toned down post-publication):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/sochi-2014-ioc-jeopardized-safety-of-athletes-and-fans-in-awarding-games-to-putins-russia/2014/01/22/3c5427a8-83aa-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_story.html

There are real challenges for the host country. The terrorist threat from the neighboring Caucasus region has, according to The Post, spurred Russia to install 60,000 security personnel, 20 times the number of athletes. Arriving athletes report they “feel safe.”

http://www.the-review.com/ap%20sports/2014/02/03/us-athletes-feeling-safe-at-sochi-olympics

There’s the stream of reports too of the cost overruns and the missed construction deadlines – problems not uncommon to many an Olympiad. But the situation may indeed be worse this time.  This week’s report of a stray-dog roundup in Sochi seemed to underscore that these will not be First-World Olympics.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/sochi/2014/02/03/sochi-olympics-killing-stray-dogs/5178083/

News reports also allege that Russia’s Putin-crony oligarchs – many of whom stepped up to sponsor the games – have lost part of their fortunes in the process.  There are suggestions Putin runs the risk of alienating allies or even losing key support.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/sports/olympics/sochi-remains-a-work-in-progress-as-games-draw-near.html?_r=0

Events at the Sochi Olympics will determine if it impacts the grip of the Russian autocrat. Some fear, though, that over-the-top western criticism of the Russian leader will be construed by ordinary Russians as an attack on the nation itself, which would only strengthen his grip. Russian officials were already seizing this week on the growing perception that the western press was trying to “sabotage” the games for the host country.