One year until the Sochi Games
Posted February 7, 2013 7:27 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SOCHI, RUSSIA (NEWS1130) – Olympics organizers in Sochi, Russia have hit the start button on the one year countdown clock to the 2014 Winter Games.
Some of their preparations will have a familiar ring to those who still remember the challenges faced by organizers of the Vancouver games three years ago. The next host city is in a subtropical climate, and crews have already started stockpiling snow for the events one year away.
“I believe the temperature is in the teens there at this time of year and the last couple of days they’ve gotten rain so they don’t have any snow there,” explains Rob Livingstone, producer of Gamesbids.com, a website that tracks cities competing for Olympic bids.
As for the venues themselves, Livingstone says work on what he calls the biggest construction project in Europe at the moment is slightly behind schedule.
He is quick to stress that unlike Vancouver, the Russians have to build their venues basically from scratch.
“At this point they are a little behind on things and probably a little worse off than Vancouver was at that point but I think they will meet their schedule. I don’t have any doubt that they’re going to get it done.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin used the word “guarantee” when pitching the International Olympic Committee on the country’s bid seven years ago. However, he fired a senior official on Russia’s Olympic Committee because of delays in construction work.
Meantime, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge sounds impressed by the preparations.
He says organizers are doing all they can to take the climate into account. “There can be too much snow or too little snow. We’ve seen that at previous games but if there is such a circumstance then the organizers will react with Plan B.”
He also defended the event’s $51 billion price tag, noting the improvements will benefit the region for many generations to come.
When it comes to the competition, experts are predicting a record haul for Team Canada, with one expert saying we could win up to 32 medals. Our athletes took home 26 medals from the Vancouver 2010 Games.
