Sochi has all that is required to offer the world a unique 2014 Olympic Winter Games: resources, knowledge and desire. In 2006, the Russian city of Sochi joined the trio of cities in the fight to host the Olympic Winter Games in 2014. Its competitors are Salzburg, Austria and PyeongChang, South Korea. The International Olympic Committee will make the final decision as to where the 2014 Olympic Games will take place during its session in Guatemala in July 2007.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a press conference in the Kremlin on February 1, 2007 that Russia would manage to bring the Winter Olympics to Sochi in 2014. "Now we are able to realize large-scale investment projects," the president said. One such project is Sochi, where 314 billion rubles are to be invested (about $10.2 billion U.S.). Russia’s government adopted the Federal Target Program to support the Olympics application with a budget exceeding 300 billion rubles. As a result of its fulfillment by 2014, Sochi will turn into a year-round resort with modern infrastructure and a developed hotel network. Within this program, during the next seven years new thoroughfares, modern engineering communications, and resort and sport infrastructure will be built and put into operation in Sochi.

If Sochi wins its bid to host the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, the city will become the new winter capital of Russia. Sports already can be carried out in Sochi during 11 months of the year.

Two crucial factors underlie the Russian application for carrying out the 2014 Olympic Winter Games: the satisfaction of athletes’ needs, and a guarantee of the best training and competitive conditions.

These games will be the most compact and effective in all Olympic history. According to the Sochi 2014 plan, 12 new sports facilities will be grouped in two complexes and built in the resort city. These will be a "coastal complex" for ice competitions and a "mountain complex" in the Red Meadow for ski sports. They are located just two hours’ driving distance from each other. And, moreover, facilities within the "coastal complex" will be located within several minutes’ walking distance from one another. For the last 30 years of the Olympic Winter Games, sports facilities were not located nearly so close together. It’s convenient both for athletes and for tourists. Members of the International Olympic Committee, for the first time, will be hosted in a five-star hotel, while sportsmen, journalists and members of international sport federations will enjoy four-star hotels. Altogether, by 2014 more than 57,000 hotel units for more than 100,000 people are planned.

Moreover, the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi are already elaborated scripted. They are based on the legend of Prometheus, from whom people were given the uniting power of fire. The scene of the Greek myth about Prometheus is located, according to legend, very close to Sochi.

Sochi is situated on the coast of the Black Sea in the Krasnodar Region, and is the most popular resort in Russia. Only in Sochi can one experience this unique combination: Alpine and Mediterranean climate zones are only 50 kilometers from each other. Only here a spectacular coast neighbors snowy mountainsides, creating ideal conditions for winter sports.

The real pearl of Sochi is the Red Meadow, a mountain-climate resort situated at the bottom of the Caucasus chain, whose peaks reach 2,000 meters. The Red Meadow is quickly turning into a world-class mountain ski resort that is getting more and more recognition and respect from both amateurs and professional athletes.

Only one hour’s driving distance from the Red Meadow the pride of Sochi is situated: 147 kilometers of amazing beaches that stand their own compared to Mediterranean ones. They form one of the longest coasts in Europe, and make Sochi one of the most beautiful resort cities in the world.

Sochi is a multinational city. Representatives of different nations and religions find home here, which strengthens Sochi’s status as an inter-culture communication center. The city represents the new democratic Russia to the world. This is Putin’s favorite place to relax. Many famous Russian athletes were born in Sochi, including Olympic tennis champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov and world tennis star Maria Sharapova.

Sochi already is popular internationally. In summer 2006 the city held 26 summits with the participation of the heads of six states, including the Russia-European Union Summit, in the course of which Putin hosted a number of world leaders.

The Olympics will also be an essential incentive for Russia’s further social and economic development. Olympic values like fair play, ecological responsibility and openness will be met with a positive response in Russian society.

According to representatives of the application committee, Sochi 2014, the newest, most modern and commonly available Olympic facilities will be put into operation two years prior to the 2014 Olympics.

By Maxim Makarychev