Sochi Olympics 2014: Will Sexy Photos of Russian Female Athletes Counter the Bad Press Putin Got and Flak Over Failures in Winter Olympic Staging? (VIDEOS)

The twin toilet photo and pre-Olympic report of bad accommodation facilities in Sochi had already given the host of the Winter Games weeks before the international athletic competition opened on Friday, Feb 7 so much negative publicity.

And on the opening ceremony itself at the Fisht Olympic Stadium, technical glitches occurred, embarrassing further the already red-faced Russian President Vladimir Putin when the one of the five snowflakes that was supposed to morph into Olympic rings malfunctioned and remained a snowflake.

YouTube/bizipapo "HD"

Those who were in the stadium saw the embarrassing technical glitch, but for those following the opening ceremony from television via the broadcast by Rossiya 1, the error was not seen because the technical crew immediately used a footage of the rehearsal where all five snowflakes morphed into rings.

Konstantin Ernst, executive creative director of the opening ceremony, pointed out in a news conference that using pre-recorded footage is an open secret in the TV industry. George Tsypin, the show's artistic director, explained the glitch to a bad command from a stage manager.

With the continuous bad publicity the organisers of the Sochi Olympic are getting, Russia will definitely need better PR since the event will run for two more weeks.

Perhaps Russia can drum up globally the sexy photos of some of its female athletes which actually went viral in the country a few weeks before the opening ceremony.

The Huffington Post, quoting Weird Russia news blog, identified the sportswomen who had pin-up images as curling player Anna Sidorova, speed skater Tatiana Borodulina, figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova and ice hockey goalie Anna Progova.

Click here for the photos.

The same images are also found in video sharing sites.

YouTube/WTencenb

However, the sexy images generated some negative feedback from Rachael Oakes-Ash who pointed out in Australia's Daily Life, "I have hear the arguments that stripping off brings much needed focus and a new audience to women in sports, the same women who earn lesser prize money and get lesser sponsorship dollars despite the same travel costs as the men on the competition circuit. But is it the audience we want and what about the young girls looking to make it on the world stage, must they worry that they are pretty enough not just good enough to make it too?"

To be fair to these athletes, most of they are good in their chosen sport.

Anna Sidorova displays her curling skills in this video.

YouTube/WorldCurlingTV

Tatiana Borodulina shows her speed skating prowess here.

YouTube/sportsnetwork

Figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova and partner Dmitri Soloviev cut impressive figures here.

YouTube/Skating

So, which do you prefer - their sexy photos or action videos. Or perhaps both, like this last video.

YouTube/Yasamdan Kareler