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2014 Winter Olympics

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100 Russian ruble banknote issued in 2013 by the Central Bank of Russia

The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, are scheduled to take place from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia, with some events held in the resort settlement of Krasnaya Polyana. Both the Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics are being organized by the Sochi Organizing Committee (SOC). Sochi was selected as the host city in July 2007, during the 119th IOC Session held in Guatemala City. The Sochi Olympics will be the first Olympics in the Russian Federation since the breakup of the USSR in 1991. The USSR was the host nation for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

98 events in 15 winter sport disciplines will be held throughout the Games. A number of new competitions—a total of twelve accounting for gender—will be held during the Games, including biathlon mixed relay, women's ski jumping, mixed-team figure skating, mixed-team luge, half-pipe skiing, ski and snowboard slopestyle, and snowboard parallel slalom. The events will be held around two clusters of new venues; an Olympic Park was constructed in Sochi's Imeretinsky Valley on the coast of the Black Sea, with Fisht Olympic Stadium and the Games' indoor venues located within walking distance, and snow events will be held at Krasnaya Polyana. In preparation for the games, organizers focused on modernizing the telecommunications, electric power, and transportation infrastructures of the region. While originally budgeted at US$12 billion, various factors caused the budget to expand to over US$51 billion, surpassing the estimated $44 billion cost of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as the most expensive Olympics in history.

The lead-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics was marked by several major controversies, including allegations of corruption leading to the aforementioned cost overruns, concerns from politicians and athletes over the effects of the country's ban on the promotion of homosexuality to minors (which led to ongoing protests), and various security concerns over threats by a jihadist group.

Bidding process

Main article: Bids for the 2014 Winter Olympics
Sochi residents celebrate IOC's decision to hold 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, July 4, 2007

Sochi was elected on 4 July 2007 during the 119th International Olympic Committee (IOC) session held in Guatemala City, Guatemala, defeating bids from Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. This will be the first time that the Russian Federation will host the Winter Olympics. The U.S.S.R. was the host of the 1980 Summer Olympics held in and around Moscow.

2014 Host City Election – ballot results
City Country (NOC) Round 1 Round 2
Sochi  Russia 34 51
Pyeongchang  South Korea 36 47
Salzburg  Austria 25 —

Financing

Funds approved
from 2006 until 2014
Year Billions of rubles
2006 5
2007 16
2008 32
2009 27
2010 22
2011 27
2012 26
2013 22
2014 8

As of October 2013, the estimated cost of the 2014 Winter Olympics had topped US$51 billion. This total, if borne out, would be over four times the initial budget of $12 billion (compared to the $8 billion spent for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver), and would make the Sochi games the most expensive Olympics in history, exceeding the estimated $44 billion cost of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

According to Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee President and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko, partnership and commercial programs allowed the use of funds generated by Sochi 2014 for the 2009–10 development period, postponing the need for the state funds guaranteed by the Russian Government. He confirmed that the Organizing Committee had raised more than $500 million through marketing in the first five months of 2009. The Russian Government provided nearly 327 billion roubles (about US$10 billion) for the total development, expansion and hosting of the Games. 192 billion roubles coming from the federal budget and 7 billion roubles from the Krasnodar Krai budget and from the Sochi budget. The organizers expect to have a surplus of US$300 million when the Games conclude.

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

  • Tourist infrastructure: $2.6 billion
  • Olympic venues: $500 million
  • Transport infrastructure: $270 million
  • Power supply infrastructure: $100 million

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 2014 Winter Olympics

With an average February temperature of 8.3 °C (42.8 °F) and a humid subtropical climate, Sochi will be the warmest city to have hosted a Winter Olympic Games. Sochi 2014 will be the 12th straight Olympics to outlaw smoking; all Sochi venues, Olympic Park bars and restaurants and public areas will be smoke-free during the Games.

Sochi Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster)

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

The Sochi Olympic Park was built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretin Valley, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from Russia's border with Georgia. The venues will be clustered around a central water basin on which the Medals Plaza will be built, allowing all indoor venues to be within walking distance. The new venues include:

Krasnaya Polyana (Mountain Cluster)

Main article: Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai
Ski resort of Roza Khutor at Krasnaya Polyana

Tentative post-Olympic usage

After the Olympics, a Formula One street circuit is planned for the site. The deal to hold the Russian Grand Prix was signed on 14 October 2010, and runs from 2014 to 2020. The first race will take place after the Closing Ceremony of the Games, but the IOC has announced that the race will be delayed until 2015 if construction of the circuit interferes with preparations for the 2014 Olympics.

Marketing

The Soyuz rocket with the logo of the Sochi Olympics
Postage stamps commemorating the three mascots

Emblem

The emblem of the 2014 Winter Olympics, unveiled in December 2009, carries a minimalistic style, and unlike previous Olympic emblems, consists of typefaces with no drawn elements at all. While more elaborate designs with influence from Khokhloma were considered, organizers eventually decided to use a simpler and more "futuristic" design instead. The "Sochi" and "2014" lettering is designed to mirror each other vertically (particularly on the "hi" and "14" characters), "reflecting" the contrasts of Russia's landscape (such as Sochi itself, a meeting point between the Black Sea and the Western Caucasus).

Critics, including Russian bloggers, panned the logo for being too simplistic and lacking any real symbolism; Guo Chunning, designer of the 2008 Summer Olympics emblem Dancing Beijing, criticized the logo for for its lack of detail, and believed it should have contained more elements that represented winter and Russia's national identity, aside from its blue color scheme and its use of .ru, the top-level domain of Russia.

Mascots

Main article: 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots

On 26 February 2011, at 23:20 (GMT+3) the final results of the public vote during the live television show "Talismaniya Sochi 2014 – The Final” were announced on the first Channel. The election council made the decision that the top-three characters with the maximum number of votes would all become the Olympic Winter Games mascots:

Along with 2008 Russian presidential election, on 2 March 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 the dolphin. 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. 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.

Video game

The official Olympic video game is the fourth game in the Mario & Sonic series, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, it was released by Sega for the Wii U on 8 November 2013 in Europe, and 15 November 2013 in North America.

Construction

Vladimir Putin with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush examining the models of the Olympic facilities for Sochi, April 2008.

The Olympic infrastructure is being constructed according to a Federal Target Program (FTP). In June 2009 the Games' organizers reported they are one year ahead in building the main Olympic facilities as compared to recent Olympic Games. In November 2011 IOC President Jacques Rogge was in Sochi and concluded that the city has made significant progress since he last visited eighteen months earlier.

Telecommunications

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See also: Telecommunications in Russia

According to the FTP, US$580 million will be spent on construction and modernization of telecommunications in the region. Avaya Inc., a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, has been named by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee as the official supplier of telecom equipment for the 2014 Olympic Games.

Avaya will be a part of the overall Games technology solutions group. Avaya will provide data network equipment solutions, including switches, routers and security, as well as collaboration equipment such as telephone and contact center systems.

Avaya will also provide engineers and technicians to design and test the systems and work with other technology partners to provide athletes, dignitaries and fans worldwide a full communications experience around the Olympic Games.

The 2014 Olympics will be the first "Fabric Enabled" Games using Shortest Path Bridging-(SPB) technology. The network will be capable of handling up to 54,000Gbit/s (54Tbit/s) of traffic.

Expected to be built:

During the Olympic Games, the telecommunications backbones of Rostelecom and Transtelekom providers will be used.

On January 2012, the newest television equipment for the television coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2014 and the pre-Olympic test event, arrived in the port of Adler. The unique technology will be employed a team of TPO "anorama" (ANO "Sports Broadcasting") to implement the broadcast of the pre-Olympic test event - the World Cup in Alpine skiing (10-12 and 17–19 February 2012). Prepared specifically for the Games, team of regional specialists and the latest technology will provide a qualitatively new level of television production in the region.

The fiber-optic channel links Sochi between Adler and Krasnaya Polyana. The 46-kilometre (29 mi) long channel will enable videoconferencing and news reporting from the Olympics.

On November 2013, it was reported that the fiber-optic cable that was built by the Federal Communications Agency, Rossvyaz, had no operator. With Rostelecom and Megafon both refusing to operate it, the line was transferred to the ownership of the state enterprise Center of the IT world (Template:Lang-ru).

Russian mobile phone operator Megafon expanded and improved Sochi's telecom infrastructure with over 700 new 2G/3G/4G cell towers. Sochi 2014 will be the first Olympic Games to offer 4G connectivity at a speed of 10 MB/sec. Subscribers to other operators will be able to access Megafon roaming services through the settings menu of their mobile devices. It also has started to provide content delivery services to the All-Russian State Television and Radio. Content delivery network of MegaFon unites servers located in the major cities of Russia, into a single infrastructure that can speed up the information from the Internet for users. CDN service requires any major media company to provide users quick access to the content without interruption and delays when transferring large amounts of data. Today the Russian segment of bandwidth CDN- network of MegaFon is about 250 Gbit/s.

MTS will provide full coverage of Sochi and the Krasnodar Territory, increased network capacity doubled. VimpelCom has also conducted extensive work on the development and modernization of the network : the number of base stations has increased several times. In preparation for the Olympics Tele2 Russia has increased the number of base stations in Sochi and Krasnaya Polyana by 15%, and network capacity up to 70% and provide 100% coverage of the Olympic facilities in the mountain cluster.

Ministry of Communications of Russia together with the mobile operators organized internetwork roaming at Olympic venues for guests' comfort Winter Games in Sochi. This measure will allow subscribers to the largest Russian operators at a price of their fare to use the network of MegaFon, which has the exclusive right to work at Olympic venues. To use the network, the subscribers will need to select the network MegaFon in the phone settings and switch to it manually. Also for guests arriving at the Games will be organized sms delivery, informing them of the need to shift and containing a short instruction in Russian and English languages.

Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS), the state operator of Russia's extensive broadcasting infrastructure, commissioned 3 mobile digital TV broadcasting complexes. Mobile systems can broadcast a signal to a radius of about 30 kilometers, depending on terrain. They will be used as a backup transmitter multiplexes two and two FM-radio stations in the event of a fault or power failure in fixed installations, as well as for the organization of video playout.

On 11 December 2013 the director of Rostelecom's southern branch, Alexander Shipulin, said the company had completed its infrastructures for the games. The transport component of the infrastructure includes about 500 kilometres of fiber-optic communication lines linking 35 facilities. The main network's capacity has been increased to 140 Gbit/sec. The Olympic Information Technology Center was the core stage of the project, being the largest IT facility for Sochi Olympics with an area of more than 2,000 square meters. The Center is aimed to process information flows, manage the Games' united network and integrate special solutions for each sport. According to Shipulin, the infrastructure has successfully underwent several-days-long testing in October and December, when real-time actions of each specialist were tested under different scenarios. It was also checked at international test competitions 2012–2013.

In January Rostelecom reported that it had connected the Olympic media center in Sochi to the Internet and organized channels of communication with the main media center of the Olympic Games in the coastal cluster and press center in Moscow. The media center was built at total cost of 17 million rubles.

Power infrastructure

A five-year strategy for increasing power supply in the Sochi region was presented by Russian energy experts during a seminar on 29 May 2009, held by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, and attended by International Olympic Committee (IOC) experts and officials from the Russian Ministry of Regional Development, the Russian Ministry of Energy, the State Corporation Olimpstroy and the Krasnodar Krai administration.

The event was a part of the Olympic Games Knowledge Management (OGKM) program by the IOC.

According to the strategy, the capacity of the regional energy network will increase by two and a half times by 2014, guaranteeing stable power supply during and after the Games.

Power demand of Sochi in the end of May 2009 was 424 MW. Power demand of the Olympic infrastructure is expected to be about 340 MW.

  • Poselkovaya electrical substation became operational in early 2009
  • Sochi thermal power station is being reconstructed (expected power output is 160 MW)
  • Laura and Rosa Khutor electrical substations were completed in November 2010
  • Mzymta electrical substation was completed in March 2011
  • Krasnopolyanskaya hydroelectric power station was completed in 2010
  • Adler CHP station design and construction was completed in 2012. Expected power output is 360 MW
  • Bytkha substation, under construction with two transformers 25 MW each, includes dependable microprocessor-based protection

Earlier plans also include building combined cycle (steam and gas) power stations near the cities of Tuapse and Novorossiysk and construction of a cable-wire powerline, partially on the floor of the Black Sea.

President Putin had instructed Alexander Novak, the country's Energy Minister to exert strict control over the energy system of Sochi to prevent possible power failures during the games. Sochi's electricity distribution network included 900 kilometers of cables, overhead transmission lines and 500 substations.

Transportation

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2013)
See also: Transport in Russia
Electric multiple-units "Lastochka" serves the Tuapse–Sochi route.

The transportation infrastructure being prepared to support the Olympics includes many roads, tunnels, bridges, interchanges, railroads and stations in and around Sochi.

The Sochi Light Metro is located between Adler and Krasnaya Polyana connecting the Olympic Park, the airport and the venues in Krasnaya Polyana.

The existing 102 km (63 mi) Tuapse to Adler railroad would be renovated to provide double track throughout, increasing capacity and enabling a reliable regional service to be provided and extending to the airport. In December 2009 Russian Railways ordered 38 Siemens Mobility Desiro trains for delivery in 2013 for use during the Olympics, with an option for a further 16 which would be partly built in Russia.

Russian Railways has had gone to establish a high-speed Moscow-Adler link and a new railroad (more than 60 km long) passing by the territory of Ukraine.

At the Sochi airport, a new terminal had been built along a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) runway extension, possibly overlapping Mzymta river. Backup airports will be built in Gelendzhik, Mineralnye Vody and Krasnodar by 2009. A new railway line was built to connect central Sochi and the local airport. The line is be served by Lastochka trains. This new type of electric locomotive, based on the Siemens Desiro design, has been developed for commuting transportation in the Russian environment. All Russian Railways facilities in Sochi have been built or retrofitted to accommodate disabled passengers.

Sochi sea port

At the Sochi sea port, a new offshore terminal 1.5 km (0.93 mi) from the shore allows docking for cruise ships with capacities of 3,000 passengers. The cargo terminal of the sea port is to be moved from the centre of Sochi.

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

In May 2009, Russian Railways started the construction of tunnel complex No. 1 (the final total is six) on the combined road (automobile and railway) from Adler to Alpica Service Mountain Resort in the Krasnaya Polyana region. The tunnel complex No. 1 is located near Akhshtyr in Adlersky City District, and includes:

  • Escape tunnel, 2.25 km, completed in 2010
  • Road tunnel, 2153 m, completed in 2013
  • One-track railway tunnel, 2473 m, completed in 2013

Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin said the road construction will cost more than 200 billion rubles.

In addition, Sochi's railway stations, were renovated. These are Dagomys, Sochi, Matsesta, Khosta, Lazarevskaya and Loo railway stations. In Adler, a new railway station was built while the original building was preserved, and in the Olympic park cluster, a new station was built from scratch, the Olympic Park railway station. Another new railway station was built in Estosadok, close to Krasnaya Polyana.

New bus routes for the guests of the 2014 Winter Olympics have begun operating in the city, stretching some 150 kilometers along the Black Sea coast. The buses will run with 5-minute intervals during the Games. Some 963 would be operating during the Olympics, while half of all the transport facilities would be used during the Paralympics. The guests will be able board buses at transportation hubs, located near the railway station in the centre of Sochi and also in Matsesta, Khosta and Adler neighborhoods, as well as in Krasnaya Polyana, Estosadok, Rosa Khutor Alpine Center and near the Sliding Center Sanki.

Other infrastructure

File:Village Olympique Sochi.jpg
Sochi's Olympic Village

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

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.

Significant funds are being spent on construction of an advanced sewage treatment system in Sochi, designed by Olimpstroy. The system meets BREF standards and employs top available technologies for environment protection, including tertiary treatment with microfiltration.

Six post offices will be opened at competition venues, two of them in the main media center in the Olympic Park and in the mountain village of Estosadok. In addition to standard services clients will have access to unique services including two new products: "Fotomarka" and "Retropismo". Fotomarka gives the opportunity to get a stylized post block with eight souvenir stamps with one's own photos, using the services of a photographer in the office. Retropismo service gives the customer to write their own stylus or pen on antique paper with further letters, winding string and wax seal affixing. All new postal items and Post Offices in Sochi will be working during the Olympics until late at night all week, and workers were trained to speak English.

The Games

Torch relay

Main article: 2014 Winter Olympics torch relay
Torch relay in Moscow.

On 29 September 2013, the Olympic torch was lit in Ancient Olympia, beginning a seven-day journey across Greece and on to Russia, then the torch relay will start at Moscow on 7 October 2013 before passing 83 Russian cities and arriving at Sochi on the day of the opening ceremony, 7 February 2014. It is the longest torch relay in Olympic history, a 40,000-mile route that will pass through all regions of the country, from Kaliningrad in the west to Chukotka in the east.

The Olympic torch reached the North Pole for first time via an nuclear-powered icebreaker (50 Let Pobedy). The torch was also passed for the first time in space; the flame was carried on flight Soyuz TMA-11M to the International Space Station (ISS), and the spacecraft itself was adorned with Olympic-themed livery, including the Games' emblem. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky passed the torch at the outlet of the ISS. The torch returned to Earth five days later on board Soyuz TMA-09M. The torch also reached the Europe's highest mountain Mount Elbrus, and even the depths of Siberia's Lake Baikal.

Participating National Olympic Committees

A record 88 nations have qualified to compete, which beats the previous record of 82 set at the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The number of athletes qualified or in qualifying position are listed below per country. Seven nations: Dominica, Malta, Paraguay, Timor Leste, Togo, Tonga and Zimbabwe are all making their Winter Olympics debut. Kristina Krone qualified to compete in her second consecutive games for her nation of Puerto Rico but the island's Olympic Committee chose not to send her to compete again as they did in 2010. Similarly, South Africa decided not to send alpine skier Sive Speelman to Sochi. Algeria also did not enter its only qualified athlete, Mehdi-Selim Khelifi.

Participating National Olympic Committees (number of qualifying athletes)
Click on the nation to go to the designated 2014 Olympic nation page

Template:Multicol Template:Multicol

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Countries that participated in 2010, but not 2014. Countries that participated in 2014, but not 2010.
 Algeria
 Colombia
 Ethiopia
 Ghana
 India
 North Korea
 Senegal
 South Africa 		 British Virgin Islands
 Dominica
 Luxembourg
 Malta
 Paraguay
 Philippines
 Thailand
 Timor-Leste
 Togo
 Tonga
 Venezuela
 Virgin Islands
 Zimbabwe
  • India's athletes will compete under the Olympic Flag. India was suspended in December 2012 over the election process of the Indian Olympic Association.

National houses

During the Games some countries will have a national house, a meeting places for supporters, athletes and other followers. Houses can be either free for visitors to access or they can have limited access by invitation only.

Nation Location Name Website
 Austria Mountain Cluster Austria Tirol House Official website
 France Gornaya Karusel (Mountain Cluster) Club France Official website
 Germany Krasnaya Polyana (Mountain Cluster) German House Official website
 Japan Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster) Japan House
 Netherlands Azimut Hotel Resort (near Coastal Cluster) Holland Heineken House Official website
 Russia Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster) NOC Hospitality Houses of Russia
 South Korea Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster) Pyeongchang 2018 Korea House (no official)
 Switzerland Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster) House of Switzerland Official website
 United States Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster) USA House

Sports

98 events over 15 disciplines in 7 sports were included in the 2014 Winter Olympics. The three skating sports disciplines are figure skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. There are six skiing sport disciplines—alpine, cross-country skiing, freestyle, Nordic combined, ski jumping and snowboarding. The two bobsleigh sports disciplines are bobsleigh and skeleton. The other four sports are biathlon, curling, ice hockey, and luge. A total of twelve new events will be contested to make it the largest Winter Olympics to date. Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sports discipline.

2
Postage Stamps of Pridnestrovie, Sochi Olympic Games (2014)

On 6 April 2011, the IOC accepted a number of events that were submitted by their respective sports federations to be considered for inclusion into the official program of these Olympic Games. The events include:

On 4 July 2011 the IOC announced that three events would be added to the program. These events were officially declared by Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge on 5 July 2011.

Team alpine skiing was presented as a candidate for inclusion in the Olympic program but the Executive board of the IOC rejected this proposal. The International Ski Federation persisted with the nomination and this was considered. There were reports of Bandy possibly being added to the sports program, but the IOC rejected this request.

On 28 November 2006, the Executive Board of the IOC decided not to include the following sports in the review process of the program.

Medals

Sochi's medal design was unveiled in May 2013. The design is intended to resemble Sochi's landscape, with a semi-translucent section containing a "patchwork quilt" of diamonds representing mountains; the diamonds themselves contain designs that reflect Russia's regions. Those who win gold medals on 15 February will receive special medals with fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteor, marking the one-year anniversary of the event where pieces of the cosmic body fell into the Chebarkul Lake in the Ural Mountains in central Russia.

Calendar

Template:2014 Winter Olympics Calendar

Concerns and controversies

Main article: Concerns and controversies at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Pre-Olympics

There have been controversies and concerns affecting the upcoming Winter Olympics. The major disputes are with Circassian nationalists, who demand the events be cancelled or moved unless Russia apologises for the 19th-century deaths, which Circassians regard to be a genocide, environmental and economic issues, the safety and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes, supporters and journalists.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden of the United States are not planning to attend the 2014 Winter Olympics, joining Canadian PM Stephen Harper, French President François Hollande and some other western leaders. Although they denied that their decision not to travel to Sochi was a political statement aimed against Russian policies, there is speculation it might be an symbolic boycott over Russia's treatment of LGBT people. In a 2013 news story, the Financial Times reported, "... Sochi boycott, when no one boycotted the Beijing Olympics, could reinforce the Kremlin narrative that the West seeks constantly to undermine Russia. Far from driving a wedge between Mr Putin and Russians, it might consolidate his support among the majority." Putin later said homosexuals should feel welcome at the games. There have been Olympic protests of Russian anti-gay laws for months since June 2013, and more are planned as part of the Games including athletes emphasizing "Principle Six" of the Olympic Charter which states "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement."

While most Olympic Games have high cost overruns, for these Games they are much higher than usual, with the costs being more than all the previous 21 Winter Olympics combined. Allison Stewart of the Saïd Business School at Oxford, notes that relations between the government and construction companies appear closer in Sochi than in other games. Oligarch Arkady Rotenberg has won contracts worth $7.4 billion.

There has been controversy over the announced mascots. The frog Zoich, which won the official online vote, was inexplicably excluded by officials from the second round of voting.

According to an article in The Daily Telegraph, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, head of Saudi intelligence, allegedly confronted the Kremlin with a mix of inducements and threats in a bid to break the deadlock over Syria, including the security of the Winter Olympics in Sochi if there is no accord. He allegedly said “I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us". Three suicide bombings in Volgograd, 700 kilometres from Sochi, one in October 2013 and the two others in December 2013, have raised additional international concerns about security during the Olympics. The IOC expressed sympathy for the victims and underlined that they trusted that Russia's security arrangements for the Olympics would be adequate. Vilayat Dagestan then again threatened the games saying that Putin should expect a "present."

Security

More than 40,000 law enforcement officials will be deployed in securing the event and Police at the games will be able to converse with non-Russian speaking spectators and other guests in three languages: English, French and German. Russian Ground Forces commander Colonel-General Vladimir Chirkin said Russian Armed Forces will help ensure security during the preparations for and throughout the games.

A Presidential Decree signed by President Vladimir Putin, stipulates that all gatherings, protests, demonstrations, marches and pickets in Sochi and the surrounding area that are not part of the Olympics or Paralympics must obtain approval from the FSB (intelligence agency), police and local government. The restrictions will run from 7 January, a month before the Olympic opening ceremony, until 21 March, five days after the end of the Paralympics. Some estimated the decree could be used to bar protests over Russia's controversial law against “gay propaganda”, which has already provoked widespread international criticism. There could also be campaigns by representatives of the Muslim Circassian people, who lived in the area where Sochi now stands until their homeland was occupied by Russia in the 19th century and the majority were either expelled or killed.

Restrictions on movement in and around Sochi will be introduced from 7 January through 21 March, with "controlled" and "forbidden" zones. The controlled zones cover all Olympic venues and infrastructure, including the coastal Olympic Park and the mountain cluster of skiing facilities, as well as all transport hubs. The forbidden zones will include the border area separating Russia from neighboring Abkhazia, just a few kilometers east of Sochi, as well as the Sochi National Park, an environmentally protected area. The government has also tightened the mandatory registration system for Russian citizens visiting Sochi.

Internal Troops of the Ministry of Interior will have 10,000-strong force to provide security at Sochi Olympics. In mid January, some 1,500 Siberian Regional Command troops were sent to a military town near Krasnaya Polyana. Their duties primarily involve prevention of unauthorized access to sports facilities, residential areas, thoroughfares and bridges. Some of the forces will keep public order along with the police.

From January 7, the country's Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) forces that are engaged in the security measures at the Olympics in Sochi have been put on combat duty. In addition, emergency situations monitoring systems, including those from the outer space as well as medical laboratory control, were deployed according to Minister of Emergency Situations, Vladimir Puchkov. According to him, a firefighting and rescue unit, a modern horse and dog specialist center and other facilities have been commissioned ahead of the games.

In addition, over 400 Cossacks arrived in Sochi in early January to help the security forces. The Cossacks will accompany police patrols in full traditional uniform, which includes elaborate tunics, fur hats and swords. They were authorized by the law to check IDs and take suspects to police stations.

Airspace above the Olympic region will be guarded by an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron as well as S-400 and Pantsir-S1 air defense rockets. From the Black sea, Sochi will be protected by four counter-terror gunboats.

The 58th Army unit of the Russian Armed Forces, which is composed of about 70,000 soldiers, will patrol Russia's nearby southern border with Georgia.

Several groups have threatened to attack the Sochi Olympics, the latest being a group that calls itself Vilayat Dagestan, which also claimed responsibility for the Volgograd bombings. They said the attacks were ordered by rebel leader Doku Umarov, who has also threatened to strike Sochi during the Olympics. In response to the possible threats, the U.S. ski and snowboard team has hired private security firm Global Rescue to protect its athletes in case of emergency. The British, German, Italian, Hungarian, Austrian, Slovenian and Slovakian Olympic associations received threats that athletes would be "blown up" or kidnapped by terrorists at the Winter Games. According to the IOC, the letters did not represent any real threat.

To enter railway stations and Olympic venues visitors must pass through check points equipped with x-ray machines, metal detectors and explosive material scanners manned by security forces.

U.S. President Barack Obama offered Russian President Putin security assistance. The Pentagon confirmed two ships and other assets at the ready in the Black Sea. On 31 January 2014, USS Mount Whitney left its homeport of Gaeta, Italy. Mount Whitney is the first of two U.S. Navy ships that will be operating in the Black Sea during the Sochi Olympics.

Media

Filming

Both NTV Plus and Comcast plan to film portions of the Games in 4K resolution (UHDTV). Comcast plans to offer its content through smart TV apps, while NTV+ is planning to hold public and cinema viewings of the content.

Broadcasting rights

Main article: List of 2014 Winter Olympics broadcasters

In most regions, broadcast rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics were packaged together with broadcast rights for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but some broadcasters obtained rights to further games as well. Domestic broadcast rights were sold by Sportfive to a consortium of three Russian broadcasters; Channel One, VGTRK, and NTV Plus.

In the United States, the 2014 Winter Olympics will be the first in a US$4.38 billion contract with NBC, extending its broadcast rights to the Olympic Games through 2020.

In Canada, after losing the 2010 and 2012 Games to CTV, the 2014 Winter Olympics will mark the return of the Olympics to CBC Television and French sister network Ici Radio-Canada Télé for the first time since 2008.

In Australia, after all three major commercial networks pulled out of bidding on rights to both the 2014 and 2016 Games due to cost concerns, the IOC awarded broadcast rights to just the 2014 Winter Olympics to Network Ten for AUD$20 million.

Notes and references

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  6. Interfax
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  10. Vancouver Olympics: Embarrassed Russia looks to 2014 Sochi Olympics The Christian Science Monitor, 1 March 2010
  11. Rio Golf Course; Women's World Cup; IOC Nominee for Japan? – No Smoking in Sochi Around the Rings, 14 July 2011
  12. "Sochi's mixed feelings over Olympics". BBC News. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  13. Russian Deputy PM leads Sochi delegation to inspect Munich Olympic Park Inside the Games, 22 May 2010
  14. Посмотрели свысока Yugopolis, 16 July 2013
  15. «Fisht» Olympic Stadium Sochi 2014; Accessed 31 December 2010
  16. Korsunskaya, Darya; Gennady Fydorov, Alan Baldwin (14 October 2010). "Sochi to host Russian GP from 2014–2020". Reuters. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
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  55. Russia will get new lands before the Olympics DP.RU, 18 September 2007 Template:Ru icon
  56. Arabians will own 70% of the island in Sochi DP.RU, 24 September 2007 Template:Ru icon
  57. Minister of Natural Resources held a meeting on design and construction of sewage treatment facilities in preparation for 2014 Olympics in Sochi Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russian Federation, 13 July 2009 Template:Ru icon
  58. "Гости Олимпиады смогут отправить написанное пером письмо, оплатив почтовые услуги маркой с собственной фотографией". TASS Telecom. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  59. "Russia anti-gay law casts a shadow over Sochi's 2014 Olympics". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  60. "Soyuz TMA-09M safely returns crew back to Earth". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
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  66. "Sascoc crush Speelman's Olympic dream". http://www.iol.co.za/. IOL Sport. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  67. Dubault, Fabrice (24 January 2014). "L'histoire invraisemblable de Mehdi Khelifi privé de J.O par l'Algérie". France 3. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  68. "Sochi Games: Four Indian skiers to go as independent athletes". Zee news. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
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  70. ^ "Olympic Parc; Hospitality Houses". sochi2014.com. Retrieved 24 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  71. "Dossier de presse Sotchi 201" (PDF). http://espritbleu.franceolympique.com. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014. {{cite news}}: External link in |publisher= (help) Template:Fr icon
  72. "Deutsches Haus Sotschi 2014 in Russlands Bergen". DOSB. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  73. "Holland Heineken House dichter bij olympiërs dan ooit". nusport.nl. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014. Template:Nl icon
  74. "USOC plans USA House sites in Sochi, at home". sportsbusinessdaily.com. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  75. ^ "Rogge announces three new disciplines for Sochi 2014". Russia Today. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  76. Women's ski jumping gets 2014 Sochi Olympics go-ahead BBC Sport, 6 April 2011
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  78. "FIS Congress 2010 Decisions". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  79. "Russian ice hockey will be skating in Sochi". Infox.ru. AktivMedia. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  80. It's Not Hockey, It's Bandy New York Times, 29 January 2010
  81. No time to relax! The show must go on...again! Eastbourne Herald, 9 March 2010
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  83. "No Olympics for Ski Mountaineering". The Mountain World. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  84. "No inclusion of ski orienteering in the IOC review process for 2014". International Orienteering Federation. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  85. "Sochi 2014 Unveils Olympic Medals". Olympic.org. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  86. "Winners at Sochi Winter Olympics to receive pieces of Russia meteorite". The Telegraph. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  87. Russian Olympics clouded by 19th century deaths. Reuters. 21 March 2010
  88. Johnson, Ted (24 July 2013). "Russia's Anti-Gay Laws Present Challenge for NBC's Olympics Coverage". Variety. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  89. Fierstein, Harvey (21 July 2013). "Russia's Anti-Gay Crackdown". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  90. "President Obama joins list of world leaders to snub Sochi Olympics". Salon. December 18, 2013.
  91. "Putin Plays Games to Salvage Olympics". Bloomberg.com. 19 December 2013.
  92. By Rfe/Rl (21 December 2013). "Obama Backs Gays In U.S. Sochi Delegation". Rferl.org. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  93. "Boycott of Sochi Olympics may prove counterproductive". The Financial Times. 9 August 2013.
  94. "Putin says gays should feel welcome at Sochi - Europe". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
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  101. "Russia Bombings Kill 31, Raise Concern On Olympics". NPR. Associated Press. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  102. Heritage, Timothy (20 January 2014). "Militant Islamist video threatens Winter Olympics". Reuters. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
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