The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening rounds in certain events were held on 6 February 2014, the day before the opening ceremony.
These were the first Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency of Thomas Bach. Both the Olympics and Paralympics were organised by the Sochi Organizing Committee (SOOC). Sochi was selected as the host city on 4 July 2007, during the 119th IOC Session held in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It was the first Olympics to be held in a CIS state and former Warsaw Pact state after the Revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1980.
A record ninety-eight medal events in fifteen winter sport disciplines were held during the Games. A number of new competitions—a total of twelve accounting for gender—were 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 were held around two clusters of new venues: an Olympic Park 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 in the resort settlement of Krasnaya Polyana.
The 2014 Winter Olympics were the most expensive Games in the history of the Olympics. While originally budgeted at US$12 billion, major cost overruns caused this figure to expand to US$51 billion, more than three times the cost of the 2012 London Olympics and even surpassing the estimated cost of US$44 billion for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The 2014 Games achieved a record broadcast audience of 2.1 billion people worldwide.
In 2016, an independent report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed allegations that the Russian Olympic team had been involved in a state-sponsored doping program, active from at least late 2011 through August 2015. The program was active during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and athletes had benefited from the cover-up. The IOC stripped thirteen medals from Russian athletes in 2017, but nine were reinstated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In December 2017, the IOC voted to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee, with an option for whitelisted athletes to compete independently during the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Bidding process
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 is the first time that the Russian Federation has hosted the Winter Olympics. The Soviet Union was the host of the 1980 Summer Olympics held in and around Moscow. + 2014 host city election – ballot results City Country Round 1 2Sochi3451Pyeongchang3647Salzburg25—
Cost and financing
As of October 2013, the estimated combined cost of the 2014 Winter Olympics had topped US$51 billion. This amount included the cost for Olympic games themselves and cost of Sochi infrastructural projects (roads, railroads, power plants). This total is over four times the initial budget of $12 billion (compared to the $8 billion spent for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver), and made the Sochi games the most expensive Olympics in history, exceeding the estimated $44 billion cost of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, which hosted 3 times as many events.The Waste and Corruption of Vladimir Putin's 2014 Winter Olympics , businessweek, 2 January 2014 Dmitry Kozak was the main overseer for the events in Sochi.
In its final budget published in June 2014, Olimpstroy—the state corporation that oversaw the Sochi Olympics development—reported the total allocated funds for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics of 1,524 billion rubles (US$49.5 billion). However, only about a fifth of that budget ($10.8 billion) was directly related to the Olympic games, while the rest went into urban and regional regeneration and the conversion of the Sochi region into an all-year round sea and alpine resort. The breakdown table below is based on a report that has analysed the distribution of Olimpstroy's $49.5 billion budget. Estimates also suggest that additional unrecoverable operational costs (including for security) could have added another $3 billion.
The breakdown of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics costs + Costs breakdown Item Cost million RUB million US$Direct Olympics costs (a)+(b)+(c)331,09810,753(a) Olympic venues221,5927,197Coastal Cluster96,3663,130Fisht Olympic Stadium18,994617Bolshoy Ice Dome10,102328Shayba Arena3,484113Adler Arena Skating Centre7,406241Iceberg Skating Palace8,127264Ice Cube Curling Centre73524Main Media Centre17,426566The Olympic Park9,871321Olympic Village (3000 places)12,217397A complex for Olympic partners (1285 apartments)8,003260Mountain Cluster125,2264,067Rosa Khutor Extreme Park (freestyle skiing, snowboarding)3,393110Rosa Khutor Alpine Skiing Centre11,911387Sanki Sliding Centre (bobsleigh, luge, skeleton)7,487243RusSki Gorki Jumping Centre (ski jumps, Nordic combined)9,889321Laura Centre (biathlon and cross-country) and Olympic Village (1100 places)74,5252,420Main Alpine Olympic Village (2600 places) at Rosa Khutor18,021585(b) Site preparation and supporting infrastructure85,3702,773Key infrastructure for Olympic venues (roads, energy, water, waste, security), planning and other works81,4132,644SOCOG office building3,957129(c) Operational costs (part of)24,135784Opening/closing ceremonies (equipment and organisation)3,444112Broadcasting and photo equipment13,330433Vehicles for visitors and logistics6,958226Live Sites city programme40313INDIRECT COSTS (d)+(e)1,193,34838,758(d) Skiing and tourist resorts189,9376,169Gazprom Alpine Tourist Centre60,7231,972Rosa Khutor35,0781,139Gornaya Karusel/Gorky Gorod72,7282,362Alpika Service21,408695(e) Other projects1,003,41132,589Hotels and health resorts130,7554,247Formula One racing11,982389Olympic University12,946420Combined road and railroad linking the two clusters317,22410,303Railways and rail terminals38,0151,235Road infrastructure189,5326,156Sochi Airport22,895744Sochi Seaport27,673899Housing projects11,379370Power generation and grids74,3052,413Gasification projects46,0481,496Other engineering, water, waste, telecommunications and other infrastructure104,9123,407Nature and culture parks11,346369Two hospitals4,399143Total (a)+(b)+(c)+(d)+(e)1,524,44549,511
Venues
With an average February temperature of and a humid subtropical climate, Sochi is the warmest city to host a Winter Olympic Games.Vancouver Olympics: Embarrassed Russia looks to 2014 Sochi Olympics The Christian Science Monitor, 1 March 2010 Sochi 2014 is the 12th straight Olympics to outlaw smoking; all Sochi venues, Olympic Park bars and restaurants and public areas were smoke-free during the Games. Around the Rings, 14 July 2011 It is also the first time that an Olympic Park has been built for hosting winter games.
Sochi Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster)
The Sochi Olympic Park was built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretinsky Valley, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from Russia's border with Abkhazia/Georgia.Russian Deputy PM leads Sochi delegation to inspect Munich Olympic Park Inside the Games, 22 May 2010 The venues were clustered around a central water basin on which the Medals Plaza is built, allowing all indoor venues to be within walking distance. It also features "The Waters of the Olympic Park" (designed by California-based company WET), a choreographed fountain which served as the backdrop in the medals awards and the opening and closing ceremonies of the event. The new venues include:Посмотрели свысока Yugopolis, 16 July 2013 Fisht Olympic Stadium – ceremonies (opening/closing) 40,000 spectators Bolshoy Ice Dome – ice hockey (final), 12,000 spectators Shayba Arena – ice hockey, 7,000 spectators Adler Arena Skating Center – speed skating, 8,000 spectators Iceberg Skating Palace – figure skating, short track speed skating, 12,000 spectators Ice Cube Curling Center – curling, 3,000 spectators Main Olympic village International broadcasting centre and main press room
Krasnaya Polyana (Mountain Cluster)
Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex – biathlon, cross-country skiing Rosa Khutor Extreme Park – freestyle skiing and snowboarding Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort – alpine skiing Sliding Center Sanki – bobsleigh, luge and skeleton RusSki Gorki Jumping Center – ski jumping and Nordic combined (both ski jumping and cross-country skiing on a 2 km route around the arena) Roza Khutor plateau Olympic Village
Post-Olympic usage
A street circuit known as the Sochi Autodrom was constructed in and around Olympic Park. Its primary use is to host the Formula One Russian Grand Prix, which held its inaugural edition in October 2014.
In January 2015, work began on adapting Fisht Olympic Stadium into an open-air football stadium to host matches during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
A new ice hockey team in the Kontinental Hockey League, HC Sochi Leopards, now plays in Bolshoy Arena.
Marketing
Construction
The Olympic infrastructure was constructed according to a Federal Target Program (FTP). In June 2009, the Games' organisers reported they were one year ahead in building the main Olympic facilities as compared to recent Olympic Games."Russia prepares for Olympic Games 2014 faster than scheduled". ITAR-TASS, 27 June 2009 In November 2011, IOC President Jacques Rogge was in Sochi and concluded that the city had made significant progress since he last visited eighteen months earlier.
Telecommunications
According to the FTP, US$580 million would be spent on construction and modernisation of telecommunications in the region. Avaya was named by the Sochi Organizing Committee as the official supplier of telecommunications equipment. Avaya provided the data network equipment, including switches, routers, security, telephones and contact-centre systems. It provided engineers and technicians to design and test the systems, and worked with other technology partners to provide athletes, dignitaries and fans information about the Games.
The 2014 Olympics is the first "fabric-enabled" Games using Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) technology. The network is capable of handling up to 54 Tbit/s of traffic.
Infrastructure built for the games included: A network of TETRA mobile radio communications for 100 user groups (with capacity of 10,000 subscribers); of fibre-optic cables along the Anapa-Dzhubga-Sochi highways and Dzhubga–Krasnodar branch; Digital broadcasting infrastructure, including radio and television broadcasting stations (building and communications towers) with coverage from Grushevaya Polyana (Pear Glade) to Sochi and Anapa cities. The project also included construction of infocommunications centre for broadcasting abroad via three HDTV satellites.
During the Games, the core networks of Rostelecom and Transtelekom were used."Сочи-2014 выходит на связь" . Открытые системы, 2007
In January 2012, the newest equipment for the television coverage of the Games arrived in the port of Adler. Prepared specifically for the Games, a team of regional specialists and the latest technology provide a qualitatively new level of television production in the region.
The fibre-optic channel links Sochi between Adler and Krasnaya Polyana. The channel enables videoconferencing and news reporting from the Olympics."Fiber-optic communications in Olympic Sochi". Mayak Radio, 28 March 2008