HOUSTON – Russian security is tightening in Sochi as the city prepares to host the Winter Olympics. Tens of thousands of police and troops have been deployed throughout the city.
The terror risk has some Houstonians canceling their trips and selling their tickets to must-see events.
For one man in Houston, he said this offered him the opportunity not only to see the Olympics, but also to advance a new business. But he said the risk is not worth it.
About this time, Jose Coira of Houston had planned to be packing his bags for his trip to the Olympics.
"Yeah, I want to see the ice skating and the snowboarding. I was kinda' excited. But at the same time, hesitant," said Coira.
But two terrorist attacks in 24 hours in Volgograd -- one on a trolley and the other at the city's train station -- convinced Coira to stay home.
"I'm not going to risk my life if I'm going to die there. It's not worth the $4,000 that I spent. It's not worth it. It's really the attacks that made me cancel my trip," Coira said.
He says his hotel in Sochi refunded his money, but he still has Olympic tickets and unused plane tickets for him and a friend.
"Which is a lot of money. Don't get me wrong. But, it's not worth my life to go and risk it," he said.
Coira had also planned business meetings in Moscow to promote his new company, XVII Underwear. Those meetings are off. He will focus his efforts on marketing at home because of the uncertainty 6,500 miles away.
"It is about community and it is about sportsmanship and going there and rooting for your team and your country, USA. But I just don't...there's an aura, a feeling about these Olympics that are just not right," he said.
Coira said he has been to Russia and will go again. But to him, now is not the time.