Thousands of people without tickets attend the elimination in hockey of Russia, against Finland, in the square that crowns the Olympic flame
Every day more than 100,000 people visit the Olympic Park of Sochi , according to the data of the organizing committee. Many of them go to the competitions and then they stay walking around the premises, enjoying the Olympic atmosphere, having a snack, attending some of the concerts that entertain the afternoons or making the endless queue of the shop that Bosco has here to buy a colorful raincoat Of memory. But today it was different. The large square where the Olympic flame is located was today a meeting point for Russian fans who had not got an entry to see their hockey team. The capacity was mute when Finland got off the tournament to the hosts in the quarterfinals (3-1).
The 12,000 locations of the Bolshoy, one of the stadiums hosting today's Olympic competition in Sochi, were occupied to assist Russia-Finland. Five minutes on foot from the imposing installation in the shape of a silver UFO and decorated with enormous Olympic rings, people - whole families, groups of friends - swarmed from 4:00 pm. They came with their flags, their horns, their Russian colors-red, white and blue-painted on their cheeks. You could also see small groups of fans from other countries, like Canada, who played later and is one of the favorites, but it was a testimonial presence. The square was Russian.
The most fortunate occupied a small roofed grandstand in front of the three giant screens where the match could be seen. Even the children, with their pompom hats, did not lose detail.
The capacity was mute when Finland upset the tournament to the hosts in the quarterfinals (3-1)
Despite how fiery the Bolshoy fans sounded - "Russiya! Russiya! ", Was heard through the giant speakers on the street the audience, which grew as the game progressed, remained quiet, following only timidly the instructions of the animator or with some spontaneous exclamation when the play became interesting. Trying to warm up on a sunny but cool day, after the fog and rain of recent days. Until Kovalchuk marked and seemed to wake them up. The joy lasted only a couple of minutes, which took Finland to draw. If there was a blind man in the square, he would not have realized the goal of the Blues because they did not even hear laments.
The Finns then scored another two goals that the Russians did not know how to answer. On the street his fans lost strength. Some undertook the march home before time.
In Russia, ice hockey is a very serious issue. His team, that the last time he won an Olympic gold did as CEI, in 1992 , arrived in Sochi with the pressure of a country that asked for gold and only gold and that had marked in red the Olympic final next Sunday .
But Russia, whose players are treated like real sports stars and play mostly in the United States and Canada, has stumbled to the ground. The first blunder was with the United States, a defeat witnessed by Russian President Vladimir Putin .
The one in Finland has been even more painful. "We have lost our Olympic Games," said Ovechkin, one of the stars of the Russian team after the game. In the end, Canada-United States and Finland-Sweden make up the semi-final table. But the Russians in the Olympic Plaza do not care anymore.
