2014 Winter Olympics:

"2014 Olympics" redirects here. For the Summer Youth Olympics, see 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.

Venues

The Games will be organized within two clusters, a coastal cluster in Sochi and a mountain cluster in Krasnaya Polyana.

Sochi Olympic Park

This sketch shows the Olympic Park concept with all venues gathered around the Medals Plaza

The Sochi Olympic Park will be built along the Black Sea coast in the Imereti Lowland.^{[citation needed]} All the venues listed below are new and need to be built. The venues will be clustered around a central water basin on which the Medals Plaza will be built. This will provide a great compactness of the concept with the Olympic Stadium and all indoor venues of the Olympics gathered within walking distance.

Krasnaya Polyana

Additional sports

Several sports applied for inclusion into the official sport program of these olympic games. The sports included:

On November 28, 2006, the Executive Board of the IOC decided not to include these sports in the review process of the program. ^[2]

The International Biathlon Union has formally applied to the IOC to have the event of mixed relay biathlon included in 2014 Games. The IOC will make a decision at the end of 2011. ^[3]

Bid process

Organizing Committee

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Organizing Committee (SOOC) was established on October 2, 2007 by the Russian Olympic Committee, the Federal Agency for Physical Culture and Sports, and the Administration of the City of Sochi.^[4]

Head

Supervisory Board

Functions

Construction

Construction of the Olympic infrastructure is expected under direction of the Federal Target Programme (FTP).

Telecommunications

According to the FTP, $580 million will be spent on construction and modernization of telecommunications in the region.

During the Olympic Games, the telecommunications backbones of UTK, Rostelecom and TransTeleCom providers will be used.^[5]

The fiber-optic channel links Sochi between Adler and Krasnaya Polyana. The 46 km long channel will enable videoconferencing and news reporting from the Olympics.^[6]

Power infrastructure

By July 2007 the total output of Sochi power stations was 350 MW. By 2011, construction and improvement of four power stations and four cascaded hydroelectric power stations with total output of 1129 MW are planned.^[7] Operations cost is expected to approximate 83.6 billion rubles ($3.2 billion).

Power generation will cost 33.7 billion rubles ($1.3 billion), while investments in the power infrastructure and rebuilt power grids will require 49.9 billion rubles ($1.9 billion).^[8]^[9] Construction of a cable-wire powerline, partially on the floor of the Black Sea, is planned as well.^[7]

Transport

115 billion rubles are expected to be spent on transportation infrastructure. The specialized railway, Sochi Light Metro will be constructed between Adler and Krasnaya Polyana to connect the Olympic Park, the airport and the venues in Krasnaya Polyana.

The existing Tuapse-Adler railroad (102 km long) will be reconstructed, ensuring two tracks for the entire length to allow stable regional traffic and improve the bandwidth. Moreover, the railroad is expected to extend to the airport. Russian Railways is going to establish high-speed Moscow-Adler link and a new railroad (more than 60 km long) connecting the Ukraine.^[10]

At the Sochi sea port, a new offshore terminal will be constructed 1.5 km from the shore to allow docking for cruise ships with capacities of 3000 passengers. ^[13] The cargo terminal of the sea port is to be moved from the Sochi centre.

Road ways will be detoured, some going around the construction site and others being cut off.^[14]

Other infrastructure

Funds will be spent on construction of 15 modern sport venues and some hotels for 10,300 guests.^[8] The first of the Olympic hotels, «Zvezdny» (Stellar), will be rebuilt anew.^[15]

«Federation» island will be built in the sea near the Lesser Akhun subdistrict of Khostinsky City District. The island will be shaped like the Russian Federation. It will hold hotels and offices.^[16]^[17]

Significant funds are to be spent on construction of sewage treatment facilities in Sochi.

Logo and mascot

Along with 2008 Russian presidential election, on March 2, 2008 there was an unofficial referendum held in Sochi to elect the mascot for the 2014 Winter Olympics. 270,000 voters along with their ballots received a coupon with four mascot candidates: Ded Moroz, a snowflake, a polar bear and a dolphin. According to a representative of Sochi city administration, the majority of Sochians voted for a dolphin.^[18] However, representatives of the Sochi Organizing Committee for the Games, which is to officially elect a logo and a mascot, commented, that while respecting the opinion of Sochians, such a procedure is usually held later, the mascot is to be elected not earlier than 2011 and the logo in the middle of 2009. They also pointed out, that the final version of the mascot should be a consensus of opinions of all citizens of the country and the result of work by professional designers and market analysts.^[19]

Security

The Russian military has offered to provide the S-400 Triumf advanced surface-to-air missile system as part of the large-scale security measures during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.^[20]

However, some officials from Georgia and EU are concerned that the unresolved conflict between Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia might disrupt the Winter Games.^[21] Georgian and Abkhaz officials have warned of renewed risk of war.^{[citation needed]}

The 2008 South Ossetia war, involving military forces of host-nation Russia and nearby Georgia, has made an indeterminate impact on the 2014 games.^{[citation needed]}

Possible Boycott

After the unfolding of the 2008 South Ossetia war and the continuing Russian presence in the port of Poti and several other georgian locations,^{[citation needed]} the Czech Republic Foreign Minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, has declared «it seems odd to organise a sports and peace event near a region where people were killed and an aggressive war was waged» and that «A EU boycott of the Olympics might achieve a lot». ^[22]

Financing

The following funds have been approved within the Federal budget for the development of Sochi:^[23]

Total funds to be approved and invested according to the Federal Target Programme is 327.2 billion rubles. 192.4 billion rubles must come from the Federal budget and 7.1 billion rubles — from Krasnodar Krai budget and from Sochi budget.

Financing from non-budget sources (including private investor funds) is distributed as follows:^[9]

Calendar

A calendar of events was submitted as part of Sochi's bid. The calendar is subject to change, and does not include any events that have been or may be added to the programme (such as skicross) after the proposed calendar was created.

Criticism

Environment

Despite several expert statements^[24]^[25] that the construction of Olympic venues in the buffer area of the UNESCO protected Caucasus Biosphere Reserve and Sochi National Park could be harmful, the IOC approved the plans. Greenpeace of Russia said that the IOC and the Russian Government assume all responsibility for any damage to the West Caucasus natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the Sochi bid, an array of construction is planned in the Grushevyi Ridge area. These include a cascade of hydroelectric power stations on the Mzymta River, sewage treatment facilities, a high-speed railroad line, a Mountain Olympic Village, a track for luge and bobsleigh (which is now being relocated), and a biathlon venue. Alpine skiing venues are being constructed in the Rosa Khutor plateau and the Psekhako Ridge area. Environmentalists propose building up Krasnaya Polyana instead of destroying nature reserve sites. Plans for construction of Olympic venues have been criticized by environmentalists as an opportunity to re-zone the Sochi National Park and to allow sale of land to the private sector for development.^{[citation needed]}

Environmentalists also oppose the plan of construction of a cargo terminal for ships in the mouth of the Psou River in the Imereti Lowland, because this could lead to the destruction of the largest areas of sea-flooded shore and marshes.^[26]

On July 3, 2008, Vladimir Putin directed some of the Olympic venues, such as the luge and bobsleigh track, to be relocated. He said «In setting our priorities and choosing between money and the environment, we're choosing the environment».^[27]^[28]^[29]

Economy

According to IRN.Ru analytical agency, prices for new Sochi houses, located next to the shoreline, reach $15,000 per square metre,^[30] while price per square metre in average panel apartment building on the outskirts of the city already reaches $2000. «As a result of 2014 Olympics euphoria prices will rise annually by 15-20%» — speculates Irina Tyurina, press secretary of Russian Tourist Industry Union. This could lead to decrease in tourist interest to Sochi, which already has fallen below Anapa, Gelendzhik and Adler.^[8]

After the IOC Evaluation Commission visited Sochi in February 2007, local authorities promised to buy the lands from Lower Imereti Bay long-time residents for a fair market price. But during the following half a year, no local resident could get his land approved as private property.^[25]

2014 Winter Olympics

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