Sochi twin cubicles prompt Twitter debate

A Twitter storm continues to rage over a photo of a men's cubicle with twin toilets at the Sochi Olympics venue in Russia.

The picture from the Biathlon Centre was tweeted by CNN correspondent Steve Rosenberg and quickly shared by countless others on the social media site.

"Seeing double in the Gentlemen's Loo at the Olympic Biathlon Centre," Moscow-based Mr Rosenberg wrote in his original tweet.

The tweet was quickly picked up by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who used the photo to question the allocation of the Games' estimated $50b budget.

"This is a men's toilet in a Sochi Olympics media centre for 1.5b roubles ($50m)," he said.

"Two toilets - 28,000 roubles," wrote another blogger. "Olympic media centre - 1.5bn roubles. Global embarrassment - priceless."

Elsewhere, hilarity ensued with some people linking it to the country's controversial ban on "gay propaganda" and some noting the unusual presence of only one toilet roll on the right-hand side the two bowls.

The Biathlon Centre was completed nearly two years ago after receiving funding from Russian state gas company Gazprom.

The building is be one of the "biggest and most comfortable structures of its kind in the world", according to a representative of the company.

Source: BBC
Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Nick Pearson