There Is A Giant Russian Nesting Doll On That 'Intimidating' Sochi Slopestyle Course (PHOTOS)

The first breakout star of the 2014 Sochi Olympics wasn't an athlete at all. It was a giant matryoshka doll on the slopestyle course at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. When the Winter Games began with men's slopestyle qualifying on Thursday, viewers couldn't miss the enormous Russian nesting doll stationed on the course.

This probably wasn't what U.S. snowboarder Shaun White was referring to when he described the course as "a little intimidating."

Or was it?

(AP Photo/Andy Wong)

FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

AP Photo/Gero Breloer

AP Photo/Sergei Grits