Sochi Problems In Pictures: Despite Unfinished Construction And Problems, 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Continue On [PHOTOS]

The athletic competitions of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics officially kicked off on Feb. 7, but much of the media attention has been focused on the preparations for the global event -- because they are still underway.

Even as journalists and athletes started pouring into Sochi, a city situated in southwest Russia on the Black Sea, many were greeted with unfinished hotel rooms, undrinkable tap water and even stray dogs waiting for them in the rooms. Unfortunately that was only the half of it. A look at the surrounding cityscape shows multiple pieces of infrastructure and buildings still under construction, including hotels, shopping centers and roads.

The mess that greeted guests in Sochi sparked a social media uproar, with journalists documenting their experience using the Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) hashtag “#SochiProblems” and more than 219,000 Twitter users following the @SochiProblems account, as of Friday.

While much of the reactions to issues encountered in Sochi are valid, some argue that past host cities of the Olympics had similar issues. The 2004 Athens Olympics had several construction delays and even the 2012 London Summer Olympics had construction workers scrambling to finish work only a couple weeks before the games started.

Despite the facilities and infrastructure issues, the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games will proceed, from Feb. 7 until Feb. 23. In the meantime, take a closer look at some of the surrounding area of Sochi in photos below.