(ATR) Vladimir Putin says the Sochi Olympics are delivering benefits in excess of expectations.
The Russian president spoke about the 2014 Winter Games during his annual press conference, this year running about four hours, one hour less than last year’s session, covered live on TV.
"We have achieved everything that we wanted to achieve in the preparation and the organization of the Olympics," Putin is quoted in a translation of his remarks by Tass news agency.
"We have achieved even more that we dreamed about — we won the Olympics, and for this we heartily thank our Olympic and Paralympic athletes who were the real heroes of the Games."
Russia surprised the world by topping the medal table in Sochi with 33 overall medals, 13 of them gold, also number one. Four years earlier at the Vancouver Olympics, Russia delivered one of its worst ever performances at the Winter Games.
A year ago in his 2013 press conference, Putin fielded a number of questions about the then-upcoming Olympics. There were concerns about security and whether accommodations and transport were up to par. Putin delivered assurances that all would be ready.
Now the question facing Putin is whether Sochi is more than a one-time boom for the Black Sea resort. As much as $51 billion is reported to have been spent on construction, although Putin has said the figure is closer to $12 billion.
Putin says the investment has left behind a year-round destination in Sochi, previously known as a place to go for summer vacations.
"I am sure that everything has been booked out there by the end of the mountain skiing season and there are simply no vacancies already," Putin said. "It proves that we, people of Russia, now have a new year-round recreation center both for summer and winter seasons."
The current season will be the first test of tourist demand for the new ski slopes and hotel rooms built in the mountains for the Games. Putin may be right about few vacancies. With the collapse of the ruble, recreational skiers in Russia are finding that Sochi is far more affordable than heading to destinations in the Alps.
In October, Sochi hosted its first ever Formula 1 race staged at the Olympic Park. In January, the main hockey arena for the Olympics, the Bolshoi, will play host to the KHL all-star game. In April, the annual SportAccord convention is scheduled for hotels and venues in the Olympic Park. The IOC Executive Board is scheduled to meet during the convention.
Reported by Ed Hula
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
