The
2014 Winter Olympics
, officially known as the
XXII Olympic Winter Games
, is the 22nd Games of the
Winter Olympics
. It is an international
winter sports
event that was held from February 7 to February 23, 2014. The host city was
Sochi
in
Russia
. It was chosen on July 4, 2007, during the 119th
International Olympic Committee
(IOC) meeting in
Guatemala City
,
Guatemala
.
[1]
This was Russia's first time hosting the Winter Olympics (the
Soviet Union
hosted the
1980 Summer Games
in
Moscow
though). These were also the first winter games in a
subtropical
city.
Fifteen winter sports were played in the 2014 Winter Olympics program. Sports included were ones that are generally played in the winter. They include skiing, ice skating, ice hockey, and curling. A total of twelve new events was contested to make it the largest Winter Olympics to date.
[2]
The following sports were played:
Most of the stadiums will be built at a place called Sochi Olympic Park near the Black Sea coast All of the venues(stadiums) being used are new. The venues are near each other. This will provide a great compactness of the concept with the Olympic Stadium and all indoor venues of the Olympics will be gathered within walking distance.
- Bolshoy Ice Dome
? ice hockey (final), 12,000 spectators
- Shayba Arena ? ice hockey, 7,000 spectators
- Adler Arena Skating Center ? speed skating, 8,000 spectators
- Iceberg Skating Palace ? figure skating, short track speed skating, 12,000 spectators
- Ice Cube Curling Center ?
curling
, 3,000 spectators
- Fisht Olympic Stadium ? ceremonies (opening/closing) 40,000 spectators[13]
- Main Olympic village- where the athletes sleep
- International broadcasting centre and main press room
Hoewever, some parts of the Olympics, mainly
skiing
and snowboarding, will take place away from the main area. These events will take place at Krasnaya Polyana (Mountain Cluster)
- Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex ? Biathlon, Cross-country skiing
- Rosa Khutor Extreme Park ? Freestyle skiing and Snowboarding
- Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort ? Alpine skiing
- Sliding Center Sanki ? Bobsleigh,
Luge
and Skeleton
- RusSki Gorki Jumping Center ? Ski jumping and Nordic combined (both ski jumping and Cross-country Skiing on a 2 km route around the arena)
Rosa Khutor Plateau Olympic Village
The opening ceremony of the Games was held on 7 February 2014. It was held from 20:14 to 23:02 local time.
[3]
The Games were officially opened by
Vladimir Putin
, the
President of Russia
. There was an
audience
of about 40,000 people.
[4]
The
performance
part of the
ceremony
was mainly about Russian
classical music
.
[5]
The pop duo
t.A.T.u
performed as well.
The site of the opening ceremony was
Fisht Olympic Stadium
. This was built just for the games. It will be used only for the opening and closing ceremonies.
[6]
In 2013, a law against 'homosexual propaganda' was made in Russia.
Cher
chose not to perform at the Winter Olympics because of the law.
[7]
On 27 January 2014, the mayor of Sochi said that there are no gay people living in Sochi.
[8]
On the first day of the Olympics, 7 February 2014, four
gay rights
activists
were arrested in
St Petersburg
, including one pregnant woman.
[9]
Organizers received several threats prior to the Games. In a July 2013 video release, Chechen Islamist commander Dokka Umarov called for attacks on the Games, stating that the Games were being staged "on the bones of many, many Muslims killed ...and buried on our lands extending to the Red Sea."
Threats were received from the group Vilayat Dagestan, which had claimed responsibility for the Volgograd bombings under the demands of Umarov, and a number of National Olympic Committees had also received threats via e-mail, threatening that terrorists would kidnap or "blow up" athletes during the Games. However, while the IOC did state that the letters "[contained] no threat and appears to be a random message from a member of the public", the U.S. ski and snowboarding teams hired a private security agency to provide additional protection during the Games.
- ↑
"Olympic News - Official Source of Olympic News"
.
International Olympic Committee
. 11 February 2019.
- ↑
"Rogge announces three new disciplines for Sochi 2014"
.
Russia Today
. TV-Novosti. 5 July 2011
. Retrieved
6 July
2011
.
- ↑
Inez Torre; Matthew Knight (31 October 2013).
"Sochi 2014: Winter Olympic venues"
. CNN. Archived from
the original
on 13 December 2013
. Retrieved
10 February
2014
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ↑
Dion Dassanayake (February 7, 2014).
"Winter Olympics: Opening ceremony for Sochi 2014 kicks off with a bang"
. Daily Express
. Retrieved
10 February
2014
.
- ↑
Faith Karimi; Michael Martinez (February 7, 2014).
"Sochi 2014 begins with teams, classical music and a flying girl"
.
CNN
. CNN
. Retrieved
10 February
2014
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ↑
Owen Gibson (February 7, 2014).
"Sochi 2014 opening ceremony: Ernst delivers disco-led paean to the past"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
February 10,
2014
.
- ↑
"Cher Snubs Anti-Gay Russia: Pop diva turns down chance to headline Sochi Olympics opening ceremony"
– via www.youtube.com.
- ↑
"Sochi mayor claims there are no gay people in Sochi"
.
sports.yahoo.com
.
- ↑
"Russia makes first gay arrests of Sochi Olympics | Gay Star News"
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-02-09
. Retrieved
2014-02-08
.