Venues of the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics

The 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics venues are divided between two "clusters" located in and around Sochi, Russia.

Venues

Coastal Cluster

Main article: Sochi Olympic Park

Located in the Adler City District of Sochi, Imeretinsky Valley, on the Black Sea, the Olympic Park houses the main Olympic Stadium used for the Games' ceremonies, and venues for indoor sports such as hockey, figure skating, curling, and speed skating. It also houses training facilities, the Olympic Village, the international broadcasting centre, and other amenities. The park is designed so that all of the venues are accessible within walking distance of each other. The venues are situated around a water basin containing a fountain known as "The Waters of the Olympic Park"; designed by California-based WET (which also designed the cauldron for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City), the fountain measures 5.3 meters in diameter with a capacity of about 700,000 gallons of water, featuring more than 250 nozzles and jet systems that can create fog and choreographed water displays set to music.^[1][2]

Coastal Cluster concept with all venues gathered around the Medals Plaza

Venue	Coordinates	Sports		Capacity	Ref.
		Olympics	Paralympics
Bolshoy Ice Dome	43°24′16″N 39°57′00″E	Hockey (final)	-	12,000	[3]
Fisht Olympic Stadium	43°24′08″N 39°57′22″E	Ceremonies (opening/ closing)	Ceremonies (opening/ closing)	40,000	[4]
Shayba Arena	43°24′08″N 39°57′07″E	Hockey	Ice sledge hockey	7,000	[5]
Ice Cube Curling Center	43°24′24.48″N 39°56′58.54″E	Curling	Wheelchair Curling	3,000	[6]
Adler Arena Skating Center	43°24′31″N 39°57′10″E	Speed skating	-	8,000	[7]
Iceberg Skating Palace	43°24′27″N 39°57′30″E	Figure skating. Short track speed skating	-	12,000	[8]
Sochi Medals Plaza	43°24′20″N 39°57′17″E	Victory ceremonies	-		[9]

Mountain Cluster

2014 Winter Olympics Mountain Cluster Venues

Venue	Coordinates	Sports		Capacity	Ref.
		Olympics	Paralympics
Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex	43°41′32″N 40°19′29″E	Biathlon, Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing)	Biathlon, Cross-country skiing	7,500	[10]
Rosa Khutor Extreme Park	43°39′27″N 40°19′11″E	Freestyle skiing, Snowboarding	Snowboarding[11]	4,000 (freestyle) 6,250 (snowboard)	[12]
Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort	43°38′47″N 40°19′56″E	Alpine skiing	Alpine skiing	7,500	[13]
RusSki Gorki Jumping Center	43°40′33″N 40°14′28″E	Nordic combined (ski jumping), Ski jumping	-	7,500	[14]
Sliding Center Sanki	43°40′01″N 40°17′19″E	Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton	-	5,000	[15]

The Olympic Village

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Village was a comprehensive setup, consisting of three distinct "villages" designed to accommodate athletes and delegates for the Winter Olympics: Usadba Coastal Olympic Village in the coastal cluster, Mountain Olympic Village and Sloboda Endurance Village in the mountain cluster.^[16][17]

The Usadba Coastal Olympic Village, located on the Black Sea coast in the Imereti Lowlands, consisted of 47 buildings covering 72 hectares. This village had the capacity to host up to 2,000 athletes and delegates. During the Olympic Winter Games, it housed athletes competing in hockey, curling, figure skating, speed skating, and short track.^[18] Yelena Isinbaeva served as the "mayor" of this village, and its mascot was the Polar Bear.

Andrey Elinson was in charge of developing the Sochi 2014 Olympic Village

The Mountain Olympic Village was the largest of the three, able to accommodate up to 3,000 athletes and delegates. It was home to athletes participating in alpine skiing, bobsleigh, freestyle, luge, Nordic combined, skeleton, ski jumping, and snowboarding. This village also featured the International Zone for interactions between athletes, media representatives, dignitaries, and visitors. It was conveniently located near the Rosa Khutor cable car stations. The village's mayor was Svetlana Zhurova and its mascot was the Leopard.

Sloboda Endurance Village, situated near the cross-country skiing and biathlon competition complex, was designed to provide accommodation for up to 1,100 athletes in cross-country skiing and biathlon, along with delegation members. Maxim Chudov was appointed as the mayor, and the village's mascot was the Hare.

In total, the Olympic Village had the capacity to house up to 6,000 athletes from 85 nations.^[19] The construction of the Olympic Village was undertaken by Basic Element, with Deputy CEO Andrey Elinson being in charge for the whole development.^[20] For his "significant contribution to the preparation and conduct of the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi", Elinson was awarded the Order of Friendship by the President of the Russian Federation in December 2014.^[21] The total cost of Sochi 2014 Olympic village's construction was $778M^[22]

Updates

Environmental protection measures are being used in venue construction. These include being climate-neutral, games in harmony with nature, zero waste, and raising environmental awareness in preparing and hosting the 2014 Games. The 100th environmental protection measure was completed in October 2010.^[23] Slopes at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort were completed on 26 November 2010. A European Ski competition took place in early 2011 while a World Cup event took place in 2012.^[24]

Post-Olympic usage

In October 2010, it was announced that the area around the Coastal Cluster would be used as part of a Formula 1 racing circuit to hold its first race in 2014. The Winter Games were completed with no problems and the first Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom took place on 12 October 2014, which was won by Lewis Hamilton and the fastest lap was set by Valtteri Bottas.

The World Chess Championship 2014 was held in Sochi in November.

On 2 December 2010, FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) awarded their 2018 World Cup to Russia. Among the venues used was be Central Stadium (known as Sochi Olympic Stadium in Russia's bid package to FIFA), which was expanded to seat 47,659 after the Games.

References

1. Madler, Mark (February 24, 2014). "WET Design Runs Rings Around Rivals". San Fernando Business Journal. Los Angeles, California: California Business Journals. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
2. "California-based WET makes the waters dance at Sochi". Gizmag. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
3. Sochi2014.com profile of the Bolshoi Ice Palace. Accessed 31 December 2010.
4. Sochi2014.com profile of Central Stadium. Archived September 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Accessed 31 December 2010.
5. Sochi2014.com profile of the Maly Ice Palace. Accessed 31 December 2010.
6. Sochi2014.com profile of the Olympic Curling Centre. Archived November 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Accessed 31 December 2010.
7. Sochi2014.com profile of the Olympic Oval. Accessed 31 December 2010.
8. Sochi2014.com profile of the Sochi Olympic Skating Centre. Accessed 31 December 2010.
9. Sochi2014.com profile of the Sochi Olympic Skating Centre. Accessed 31 December 2010.
10. Sochi2014.com profile of the Biathlon & ski Complex. Accessed 31 December 2010.
11. Para-Snowboard secures Paralympic Games inclusion Accessed 21 August 2012.
12. Sochi2014.com profile of the Freestyle Skiing Center and Snowboard Park. Accessed 31 December 2010.
13. Sochi2014.com profile of the Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort. Accessed 31 December 2010.
14. Sochi2014.com profile of the Russian National Ski Jumping Centre. Accessed 31 December 2010.
15. Sochi2014.com profile of the Russian National Sliding Centre. Accessed 31 December 2010.
16. "Sochi 2014 – all three Olympic villages opened". The European Olympic Committees. 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
17. "Inside Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Village". iDesignArch - Interior Design&Architecture. 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
18. "Олимпийские деревни «Сочи 2014» торжественно открыты и ждут спортсменов со всего мира [Olympic villages "Sochi 2014" are officially opened and are waiting for athletes from all over the world]". Ставропольская правда [Stavropol Pravda] (in Russian). 31 January 2014. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
19. Wyatt, Ben (2014-02-06). "Sochi 2014 confidential: Take a tour of Olympic Village". CNN. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
20. "The Waste and Corruption of Vladimir Putin's 2014 Winter Olympics". Bloomberg.com. 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
21. ""24 декабря Министр транспорта РФ Максим Соколов и Министр строительства и жилищно-коммунального хозяйства РФ Михаил Мень вручили государственные награды за вклад в подготовку и проведение XXII Олимпийских и XI Паралимпийских зимних игр 2014 в городе Сочи" [On December 24th, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov and Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation Mikhail Men presented state awards for contributions to the preparation and conduct of the XXII Olympic and XI Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014]". The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation (in Russian). 24 December 2014.
22. Stephenson, Debbie (2014-02-06). "How Sochi 2014 Became the Most Expensive Olympics Ever". Firmex Resources. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
23. "Volunteers mark Sochi2014's 100th environmental protection measure. Aochi2014.com 26 October 2010 article accessed 31 December 2010.
24. "Olympic Slopes Ready for Sochi Games." Sochi2014.com 26 November 2010 accessed 31 December 2010.

External links