Sochi, Russia gearing up for Winter Olympics 2014

The celebration of remarkable sporting talents is not far with Winter Olympics scheduled to take place from the 7^th to 23^rd of February 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Hosted by Sochi Organizing Committee (SOC), this event will be a matter of pride for Russia as it’s the first one since disintegration of the Soviet Union. If ninety-eight events in fifteen winter sports are already raising your adrenalin levels, get your tickets booked for Russia before the prices shoot up.

Most expensive Olympic

The Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 will apparently cost Russia over 50  billion US dollars as extensive infrastructure development is necessary here along with construction of new Olympic venues. Full-fledged preparations including building of new venues, modernizing the telecommunications, electric power, and transportation, is taking place. A new Olympic Park is also being constructed along the coast of the Black Sea in the Imeretin Valley.

Weather in Russia

You have nothing to worry as Sochi, the third largest region in Russia, with a humid subtropical climate and an average February temperature of 8.3 °C, will be the warmest city to host the Winter Olympic Games till date. Initially, this city in the southern part of Russia seemed an imperfect choice for hosting the Winter Games as Sochi is popular only as a summer sea resort. However, after this event Sochi will feature among the year-round international tourist destinations.

On the other hand, organizers at Sochi had piled up chunks of snow last year and kept them under special insulated blankets. They hoped that with this snow-saving process they will be able to meet their requirements in case of adverse weather conditions during the Olympics. Nevertheless, weathermen in Russia have indicated that the combination of warm air from the Black Sea and cold air from the Caucasus Mountains will bring enough snowfall. What needs to be avoided is last year’s situation in Vancouver, where snow had to be airlifted.

Precautions for athletes

Last time at the Vancouver Winter Olympic, three Indian athletes, their manager and 2 coaches were apparently sent to the event with mismatched uniforms. One of the Canadian dailies had reported that apparels provided to the athletes and their coaches for the opening ceremony were in poor condition. To prevent any such plight thrown on the Indian community, the authorities here should take special measures this time. On a positive note, with less than two months remaining for the biggest winter sports, Indian athletes are pepped up to battle all odds.

picture courtesy- SOC