Visitors to the Olympic Park stopped to pose in December with some of the mascots from Russia’s Sochi Games, which ran from Feb. 7 to 23, 2014, and cost $51 billion.”
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Up in the mountains, even as the hugely expensive ski jump and bobsled tracks lay quiet, workers were continuing construction on vacation villas in Krasnaya Polyana, part of continuing efforts to make a world-class resort. But as the season started late last year, ski guides and businesses were still waiting for both snow and tourists, hoping that the sudden devaluation of the ruble would divert Russian skiers from the Alps to the Caucasus.
