The 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia
Today is one of the most significant events of the year – the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi are going to start. Sochi is one of the most famous and glamorous resort cities in Russia. Needless to say both the Russians and the international community are impatiently waiting for the grand opening of this solemn celebration of human strength and will to victory. According to the lastest reviews, the infrastructure created for the tournaments surpasses all imagination. So let’s look carefully at what the future holds for us in the Olympics.
The city of Sochi is located in the most southern region of Russia, near the Black Sea. The climate there is famous for its unusual combination of two types – alpine and subtropical. That’s why for many generations of Russians it was and still is a traditional place to go on holiday. Nowadays there are about 400,000 people who live in Sochi and the city annually attracts up to 4 million tourists. Regarding the size of the city much had to be done in preparation for the Olympics. First of all a stadium called ”Fisht” for non-sporting entertainments was built. It will be the place for the opening and closing ceremonies. The stadium holds 40,000 spectators and will be enlarged up to 45,000 seats after the Games. Its name was derived from the 2,857 meter mountain of the same name. In Adygei this word means ”a white head” or ”white hoarfrost”. Thus the form of the stadium’s roof resembles the mountain.
– Click to see the full size Olympic Map
Sports grounds include the ice palace ”Bolshoi” for hockey seating 12,000 people. For hockey as well they created a smaller ice rink called ”Shaiba” (”a puck” in English). A separate sports center was built for curling events. Known as ”The ice cube”, it can host 3,000 spectators. For the most elegant of the winter sports – figure-skating – the palace for winter sports called ”Iceberg” was opened.
The management team paid special attention to the hospitality offered to visitors. During the 2014 Olympic Games there will be three major centers to host the athletes – two mountain and one littoral village. All in all more than 40,000 sportsmen and guests will reside in Sochi during the games.
Another serious question which was brilliantly solved by the team of engineers was the transport issue. The figures can amaze even the most quarrelsome critics – more than 300 km of roads and bridges, and about 200 km of railways were either built or just modernized. The new air terminal enables an increase in passenger turnover up to 4,000 passengers per hour.
Among the priorities of the organizers was to work in close contact with volunteers from all over the country. Special care was taken for physically disabled visitors. They can have easier access to the sports areas. Another innovation is a unified electronic system. On the whole territory of the Olympic Games guests will use electronic cards to get to the events and receive all necessary information.
Whether you are a sports fan or not the Olympic Games are, by all means, one of the greatest athletic events in the world. So Russia is waiting for you to share its pride of being a host country. So join us on the 7th of February for the Olympic Games. Because they are ”hot, cool, and yours!”