A question about the Olympics?

Question about Sochi Olympics?

• I have a dream of meeting Shaun White. A huge dream! I have wanted to meet him since the 2006 Olympics when I was only 12. I am currently 16 (turning 17) and a junior in high school in Pennsylvania, USA. I am planning on either going to the Dew Tour, Winter X Games, or 2014 Sochi Olympics. I would rather go to the Olympics, since it might be his last run in the Olympics. Anyway, I had a couple of questions about the Olympics coming up in Sochi… 1. When can you start buying event tickets?? I want to buy them as soon as possible to get closer seats and so I make sure I have them. 2. Roughly how much would a round trip plane ticket cost? I would probably be flying out from Washington D.C., Philadelphia, or Baltimore. 3. Roughly how much would a hotel cost for each day? 4. I saw the Men’s Halfpipe event ticket cost $150 for the A Level, would it be roughly the same in Sochi? 5. Do the people who work at the Olympics know English? (I’m learning Russian anyway, but I’m still a beginner.)

• Answer:

  1. Considering that tickets for the 2012 Olympics won't even go on sale until next year, I'd guess tickets for Sochi won't even go on sale until 2013. 2-3. Predicting what a round trip plane flight to Russia and a hotel room would cost four years from now is impossible at best. 4. I see no reason for ticket prices in Sochi to be substantially less than Vancouver. 5. English is one of the official IOC languages. However, they can't mandate that every vendor in Sochi speaks it. Frankly, without knowing how long you intend to stay, there is no way to estimate a cost of such a trip four years from now. For instance, most of the flights from Reagan to Sochi now are priced over $2500. Add to that total hotel costs and other spending money (unless you don't plan on eating or attending events). Bottom line: You would have to probably save a minimum of $1000 for each of the next four years just to possibly have enough money ($4000+). Frankly, your life is changing too much right now and in the near future to be planning such an international vacation four years from now. The cool dreams of a 16 year old often end up withered by the realities of a 20 year old.