Australian Winter Olympic Athletes may not be competing in Sochi due to the recent Terrorist Attacks

[fruxodaily]

[QUOTE]AUSTRALIAN athletes face the possibility of being prevented from competing at the Sochi Winter Olympics in February if terrorist attacks continue in Russia.

Two bomb blasts in 24 hours in the southern Russian city of Volgograd have raised fresh security fears for the Games but Australia's prospective Olympians seem undeterred as they prepare for the event, starting on February 7.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told The Australian last night authorities would work closely with their Russian counterparts and with Australian officials in Russia to assess the situation before a decision was made.

"These terror attacks are shocking and a reminder of the ongoing battle to confront extremism in all its forms worldwide," Ms Bishop said. "We don't want to lightly prevent our athletes participating in any event for which they have trained for years, but their safety and the safety of their families and other spectators is of the utmost concern."

A suicide bombing at Volgograd's central train station, 690km north of Sochi, killed 17 people and injured many others yesterday. It was swiftly followed by a second attack on a trolleybus, where 10 people were reported dead.

Olympic officials and the Russian government were already on high alert after Chechen Islamic separatist leader Doku Umarov declared in July that his terrorist group, known as the Caucasus Emirate, would target the "satanic" Games. "They plan to hold the Olympics on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many dead Muslims, buried on the territory of our land on the Black Sea," Umarov said.

He has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Moscow in 2010 and 2011.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/chance-of-travel-ban-for-sochi-says-julie-bishop/story-fn59nm2j-1226792220281#[/url]

[CertainDOOM]

this was exactly the point of the attacks

[Araknid]

Terrorists win?

[OscarLimaEcho]

I wish they just said it was because of the human rights issues in Russia instead.
There's just something sad about having to say "We're backing out. It's too dangereous" when it comes to terror.

[Rangergxi]

Lets hope it doesn't come to that. It would be pretty shameful for Australia.

[itisjuly]

[QUOTE=Araknid;43357931]Terrorists win?[/QUOTE]
I'd rather they win than them blow up more innocents.