Sochi in the spotlight

Just over two months after Sochi was elected host city of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Guatemala City, a delegation headed by IOC President Jacques Rogge today met with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, on the shores of the Black Sea. Jean-Claude Killy, who, as Chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission, will lend his support to the 2014 Sochi Organising Committee over the seven years leading to the staging of the Games, and Gilbert Felli, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director, accompanied the IOC President. IOC member in Russia Vitaly Smirnov and Russian Olympic Committee President Leonid Tyagachev were also present during the meeting.

“Sochi’s project is very ambitious,” said Rogge during the meeting. “We have learned from experience that every minute counts in the preparation of the Olympic Games and we are pleased to see this has been understood at the highest level of the government. We have every confidence that Sochi will bring together a solid and experienced team that will move things forward swiftly.”

Chairman Killy and Gilbert Felli yesterday made a comprehensive tour of the future Olympic venues. They flew over ski resorts and visited the area where Sochi plans to build its Olympic Park.





“I am very impressed by the beauty of the venues,” said Killy. “I look forward to working with the Sochi organisers to allow their visionary project to come to fruition and to contribute to the tremendous legacy that the Games will leave to Russia’s young generations in the region and beyond.”