Greek Alpine skier Giannis Antoniou was the first to carry the Olympic torch at the beginning of its 123-day relay from Greece to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. (Flicker/International Olympic Committee)

Jan. 21 (UPI) -- International athletes invited to next month's Olympics in Sochi, Russia will have to face down world-class opponents -- as well as unusually intimate trips to the toilet.

BBC News' Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg set off Vladimir Putin's critics on Monday when he tweeted a photo of a Sochi Olympics bathroom stall containing two toilet bowls.

Seeing double in the Gentlemen's Loo at the Olympic Biathlon Centre #Sochi pic.twitter.com/a1HoilU9zn Advertisement January 20, 2014

With this year's Olympics costing $50 billion -- the most expensive Games ever -- some critics used the photo to comment on what they see as Russian wastefulness and corruption.

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny tweeted, "This is the men’s room in the media center for the Sochi Olympics 1.5 billion rubles."

Famed Russian chess player and political activist Garry Kasparov mockingly weighed in:

But the toilets in Sochi will create a sense of community! This is what $50+ billion gets you! http://t.co/pYTDZAGPNf pic.twitter.com/Wy6VPEUxmX — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) January 20, 2014

[BBC News, Business Insider]