Organizers keeping ‘the moment’ under wraps

SOCHI, Russia

Twenty years ago in Lillehammer, it was a ski jumper who delivered “the moment,” torch aloft as he soared down a jump to light the Olympic cauldron.

In Vancouver, the moment came courtesy of snowboarder Johnny Lyall, who leaped through a blazing set of Olympic rings.

There will be a moment in Sochi’s opening ceremony, which starts at 8 p.m. local time on Friday, that much is assured. But no one is offering any hints as to what it might be.

“Tomorrow,” was the only answer Sochi Olympic officials would give, when asked to provide some clues in advance.

But they are well aware of the opportunity the opening ceremony gives them to present the face of the new Mother Russia to the world: an estimated three billion people are expected to watch the performance worldwide.

According to the Moscow Times, the ceremony will include several different episodes, each portraying a certain period and aspect of Russian culture.

“Russia’s biggest points of pride — classical music, ballet, the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russian avantgarde art and architecture — will receive their own special tributes,” the paper wrote.

Earlier reports suggested the show would include musicians Valery Gergiev, Yuri Bashmet and Denis Matsuev, ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina and an as yet unnamed cosmonaut. And there will be fireworks.

One volunteer who saw some of the ceremony described it as “interesting, to say the least.” Another used the words, “long and boring.”

Every Olympic organizing committee faces its own challenges in terms of following the one before. In Vancouver four years ago, organizers were tasked with following the most expensive and extravagant ceremony in history. The opening in Beijing reportedly cost more than $100 million to produce.

Finding out just how much Russia spent on the show proved impossible. But with an overall budget of close to $51 billion, expectations are high.