Earlier this week a photo of a bathroom stall with two toilets in it at the Sochi Olympics went viral and caused a firestorm, becoming the symbol of money wasted in creating the Winter Olympics.
Today, Reuters photographer Alexander Demianchuk uploaded a new photo of the same bathroom stall that suggests the original photo may have been taken when the bathroom was in the process of being converted for another use. In the new photo, the toilets have been removed.
Here is the photo:
Reuters/Alexander Demianchuk
A bathroom stall at the Sochi Olympics
In the room, which is located in the VIP sector of the Cross-country Ski and Biathlon Center, the two toilets and the trash can have been removed and replaced by three sets of drawers.
One person, who claims to be in Sochi and who may work at the building in question, posted a similar photo on her Facebook page. According to her description (via Bing translate), the bathroom is being converted to a "utility room" at the request of Olympic organizers.
Her description also appears to confirm that the original photo was taken in mid-conversion, after the dividing wall had been removed, but before the toilets had been removed. Remnants of the divider can be seen on the back wall.
The woman also posted a picture of bathroom from another floor that appears to have a similar layout and does include a stall divider.
Here is the original photo.
Seeing double in the Gentlemen's Loo at the Olympic Biathlon Centre #Sochi pic.twitter.com/a1HoilU9zn
- Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) January 20, 2014