Before July 2007, few people had heard of the Russian resort on the Black Sea. Some knew it as a former meeting place of the Soviet elite, where Stalin arranged his popular dacha, others heard of it because it lies only a few kilometers from the border with Abkhazia, a separatist part of Georgia, or an independent country recognized only by Russia and four other countries in the world.
Then the 119th Congress of the International Olympic Committee took place, and for the first time in history, the Russian Federation was awarded the honor of hosting the Winter Olympics.
When the world was surprised to note that Sochi lies along the Black Sea coast and that the resort is characterized by a subtropical climate with hot summers and mild winters, the most educated looked forward to the challenge that the region offers. A city that is just 1,600 kilometers away from Moscow, is visited by almost two million mainly Russian tourists in the summer months, and not far away, the palm trees by the sea rise as a beautiful backdrop and a sharp contrast Caucasus, which does not lose its snow cover long into the summer. And since no challenge is beyond the reach of the ruling Russian elite, they embarked on and executed a gigantic implementation plan "the warmest Winter Olympics" in history. If we look at the map, Sochi is located at the same latitude as Nice, France, but the cold winds from Asia still bring colder winters to the city. Despite this, the lowest winter temperatures in the city only fall below zero on about two days a year.
22nd Winter Olympic Games
Med February 7 and 23 will host Sochi 22nd Winter Olympic Games, and after them, between March 7 and 16, the same venues will also take place 11th Paralympic Winter Games. Eighty-nine competitions in 15 sports disciplines will take place in two locations: in the Olympic Park in the Imeretin Valley on the Black Sea coast, and the snow events in the winter center Krasnaya Polyana high in the Caucasus. The venues in the Olympic Park in Sochi are built around the central square where the Olympic medals will be awarded, which means that you can walk to all the halls that were built specifically for the Olympics. The ultra-modern architecture of the sports halls has completely changed the image of the city, and the decision to build as many as eleven new facilities for the needs of the games at both locations has shot the cost of the organization from the projected 12 billion dollars to 51 billion dollars, which means that the upcoming event will the most expensive in Olympic history.
The star among the new halls is certain Fišt Olympic Stadium, which will welcome as many as 40,000 visitors. The stadium, which has the shape of a shell and whose appearance is said to evoke the memory of one of the Russian icons - the Faberge egg - will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The large ice hall, which will host the final ice hockey match, can accommodate around 12,000 visitors. The shape of the Ledena gora Skating Palace, in which the program of figure skating and speed skating on short tracks will take place, should resemble a figure skater performing a triple dip. As many as 12,000 spectators will be able to enjoy the masterpieces of figure skaters in the hall. Competitions in speed skating will take place in the Adler skating center, which accommodates 8,000 visitors, and hockey players will measure their strength in Arena Shajba, which accommodates 7,000 fans. Even the sport, which is considered one of the most boring, was still included in the Olympic sports, it deserved its own hall, 3,000 curling enthusiasts will be able to watch the competitions in the Ice Cube curling center.
Krasnaya Polyana
All outdoor sports competitions will take place approximately sixty kilometers from Sochi in Krasnaya (red) Polyana, which is otherwise a well-known winter gathering place for the new Russian elite. One of the reasons that Russia is running with Sochi is certainly the fact that Krasnaya Polyana is a favorite ski resort Vladimir Putin. And what Putin decides, Putin does, regardless of the millions wasted. In the 1990s, Krasnaya Polyana became known even beyond the borders of Russia mainly for heliskiing, but today the ski and cross-country terrains, which rise to an altitude of 2,320 meters above sea level, are interspersed with new lifts that promise great alpine and Nordic competitions. It will be the most interesting for us Rosa Khutor Alpine Center, where skiing competitions will take place.
World-renowned ski architect Bernhard Russi has designed ski tracks that stretch for twenty kilometers, and the men's downhill track is almost 3,500 meters long and has a vertical drop of 1,075 meters. Snowboarding competitions will also take place in the Extreme Park in the Alpine Center. Cross-country skiers and biathletes will compete in skiing and Laura biathlon complex. Most of us will be clenching our fists in front of the TV screens for our eagles, but only a few lucky ones will be sitting among the 7,500 spectators who will enjoy the successes of the ski jumpers in ski jumping center RusSki Gorki.
Where between competitions?
During the winter months, tourist workers in Sochi rave about the beauty of the largest subtropical park in Russia, called Arboretum, which will especially delight lovers of luxurious greenery, the Riviera amusement park and the Aquarium, the largest in Russia, which is actually a collection of thirty aquariums on an area of 6,000 square meters. Tourists who want more than just entertainment, however, most often visit Stalin's dacha, the popular country home of the Soviet dictator, who was born in nearby Georgia. The estate includes Stalin's residence, converted into a museum, and residential facilities with 12 apartments that can be rented.
What about after the Olympics?
The residents of Krasnaya Polyana are looking forward to the new acquisitions, as the new infrastructure will further strengthen the position of a fashionable Russian ski resort, but it is hard to believe that the seaside resort of Sochi will profitably use all the ice halls and the Olympic stadium after the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. But the organizers claim that it will become Sochi the leading sports center of Russia. The Russian Football Federation plans to move its training center to Sochi, and the Fišt Olympic Stadium will also be one of the venues for the matches. World Cup in football, which Russia will host for years 2018. Vladimir Putin provided Sochi with another moment of glory. On October 12, it will be held for the first time in Russia around the Olympic Park formula 1 race, the third longest racetrack on the calendar formula 1, and it should be one of the Formula 1 stations there by 2020. That Soči is not only a city of sports and major sporting events is confirmed by the various festivals and cultural events that take place in the city of approximately 350,000 inhabitants, especially during the summer. The most famous of them is the film festival Kinotaur, the largest Russian film festival in the country, which will be held in early June this year.
photo: Organizing Committee of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games
During the Olympic Games, a selection of the best cultural events of the Cultural Olympiad, which has been held in Sochi since 2010, will also be presented in Sochi.
www.culture.sochi2014.com
The largest national film festival will take place in Sochi from June 1 to 8:
www.kinotavr.ru/en
As many as five million liters of water give a home to underwater flora and fauna from all over the world in the Sochi Aquarium.
en.sochiaquarium.ru/info
