This photo shows Russia may have a toilet problem in Sochi

  • By Kathy Lally

MOSCOW - As if the Russians didn't have enough problems as the Olympics approach Feb. 7, fending off talk of terrorism, defending themselves against accusations of homophobia, denying any corruption was involved in the $51 billion construction project.

Now they've got a toilet problem. No, not a scarcity of toilets - too many of them. At least too many in one stall.

BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg happened to duck into the men's room in the biathlon center in Sochi on Monday and thought he was seeing double: two toilets in one stall. He tweeted his photo, and it quickly took off in the multilingual world of Twitter, with Russians gleefully retweeting the photo as a sign of corruption, shoddy construction or just what they couldn't imagine.

Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader, commented on what it must have cost. Others suggested excitement over the extra comfort being provided to visitors. And one English speaker said it reminded him of the Love Toilet on "Saturday Night Live" -- better look up that episode yourself.

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