Sochi 2014 and the rhetoric of a new Russia: image construction through mega-events

To understand the motivations and intentions of Olympic bidding cities, scholars frequently situate the staging of Olympic mega-events within a framework that extends beyond economic considerations and encompasses the soft power concepts of branding and image creation. In this paper, I compare the international community's rejection of the Sochi 2014 brand to the Russian population's relative acceptance of the discourse surrounding the Sochi Olympics. By using a constructivist methodological framework and applying the concept of diffuse support, both of which emphasise language and symbolism as central to public opinion formation, I argue that Olympic discourse - even when not substantiated by actual policies - can catalyse domestic support in the short-run. I use the Russian context to outline the potential and the perils of attempting to project a new self-image without fundamentally altering social realities, and illustrate how discursive power has shaped and may continue to shape the responses to Sochi 2014.