Russian rabbi welcomes Olympics

One of Russia’s two chief rabbis has welcomed the pick of the Russian resort of Sochi as the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics.”The victory of Sochi is a very pleasant event,” Rabbi Adolf Shayevich told the Jewish Journal Web magazine on Friday. “I think the Olympics will give an impulse to the development of sports in Russia.”Shayevich was the only rabbi who was officially allowed to work at the Moscow Summer Olympics in 1980, the only time Olympic games were held in Russia.”I still remember this unforgettable feeling of the festival of sports,” Shayevich said.On Thursday, Russia was awarded its second Olympics in history at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee delegates in Guatemala.