Strong Foundations Laid for Sochi 2014

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games concluded its first full visit (22-23 April 2008) to the Russian host city today. The Commission, led by IOC member Jean-Claude Killy, took advantage of the visit to review first-hand the sites of the venues for the 2014 Games, and heard updates from the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee (Sochi 2014) on a number of key areas of Games preparations, such as the Organising Committee’s structure, transport, marketing, environment and construction.

Speaking at the end of the visit, Chairman Killy said, “The Sochi 2014 project is an ambitious and exceptional one, which will leave a tremendous legacy to the Krasnodar region and its people, and to sport in Russia. Such a venture, however, cannot be completed successfully unless there is complete unity behind it, and the Commission was delighted to see that Sochi 2014 continues to have the support of all levels of Russian society. Indeed, the presence of Prime Minister Zubkov, Speaker of the Duma Gryzlov, Deputy Prime Minister Zhukov and a number of other high ranking Russian government ministers during our meetings underlined the importance that Russia places on these Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Killy continued: “This week has also allowed us to cement our own relationship with the Sochi organisation, and we have laid very solid foundations, which will allow us to move forward together as one team. The presentations made to us by Sochi 2014 were of an extremely high quality and this fills us with confidence that the project is in good hands. I have no doubt that these Games have the capacity to be truly spectacular and we will work hard with our Russian friends to ensure that the winter sport athletes of the world compete in top-quality conditions in 2014.”

In addition to meetings with the Sochi team, a large part of this first Coordination Commission visit was devoted to site visits, which allowed the Commission to see first- hand the development and positioning of the venues for 2014. The Commission toured the Olympic sites in the city of Sochi and visited the Krasnaya Polyana cluster, which will host the snow and sliding sports in 2014.

Speaking about the sites, Gilbert Felli, IOC Executive Director for the Olympic Games, said: “The Sochi venues will be some of the most spectacular winter sports arenas in the world, ranging from magnificent mountain sites to stadiums on the water’s edge. However, a lot of construction work must be completed by 2014 in order to ensure that the athletes, media and spectators find top-quality venues and infrastructure when they come to the Games here in Sochi. The Commission is therefore happy to see that work on preparing the venues has started early and that the resources of the State are being put behind this project. There is still a long way to go, but the Sochi team must ensure that its focus in this area does not waver and that they keep to the schedule presented to us. The Russian people have shown in the past that they are capable of great things, and we have every confidence that they will once again rise to the challenge for these first-ever Russian Olympic Winter Games.”

Dmitry Chernyshenko, President of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee, said:

“On behalf of Sochi 2014 and millions of Russians inspired by the Olympic Movement, I thank the members of the IOC Coordination Commission for making available to us their unprecedented blend of knowledge and experience. By building on the strong working relationships established during the Commission's first ever visit to Sochi, together we can deliver the most innovative Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in history, creating an enduring legacy for the benefit of the Olympic Movement and the people of Russia.”

“We have an ambitious, but realistic, plan and have been able to show the Commission our strong early progress, particularly in the mountains. But we are far from complacent. We have a lot of work to do and will make best use of every hour of each day to ensure that we deliver on time and within budget. What is especially important to highlight is the government's continued involvement in, and full support of, Sochi 2014. Thanks to its ongoing support, the IOC Coordination Commission heard from a number of very high- calibre presenters, who have all given strong presentations over these last two days.”