Chiharu Igaya, chairman of the IOC Evaluation Commission, said the Commission had visited all of the proposed Olympic sites and carefully studied the bid document. He said that the Sochi bid had two main strong points and no soft spots. He described the “tremendous governmental support” for the bid as its real strength, with President Putin, whom the commission met early last week, having reaffirmed his strong backing for the bid.
As well as meeting President Putin, the Evaluation Commission also heard directly from the top ministers in the Russian Government, including the Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, Minister of Trade and Economic Development Herman Gref, Minister of Natural Resources, Yuri Trutnev and the Mayor of Sochi Viktor Kolodyazhny. Igaya said this support and that of Russian athletes and citizens and of the country’s Olympic sports federations, was “one of the bids’ strongest aspects.”
Mr Igaya also cited Russia’s enormous winter sports tradition as a major plus-point for the bid.
While he said there were no problems with the Sochi bid, he did outline some challenges. The first was, that given the amount of construction needed for the Olympic Games, the seven-year timeframe to build infrastructure “could be pressing and to co-ordinate all this work could be a challenge.”
The second challenge he cited involved overcoming the concerns raised by several environmental groups and NGOs over the proposed work to be done. But he said that after meeting with the NGOs, he was confident that the Russian government and the bid committee and the NGO’s are now in talks and “we hope that satisfactory conclusions can be found.” He also confirmed that the NGOs, despite their concerns, all back the bid and want the Olympic Games to come to Sochi.
Chairman Igaya said the Sochi bid was really unique, combining mountain venues and a coastal cluster. To be unique he said, “could be both a challenge or a strong point, but that on the whole, to be unique is fantastic.”
Dmitry Chernyshenko, Sochi 2014 Bid CEO, spoke of Sochi being a blank canvas on which, over the days of the evaluation commission visit, the bid team had shown how they planned to paint a masterpiece.
He said, “we have shown that the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games would leave a lifetime of sporting, economic and social legacy for Sochi, for Russia and our many neighbouring nations, as well as the entire Olympic movement.”
He added that the legacy for Sochi of hosting the Games would be “much more than bricks and cement. I believe that the Commission members have felt the extent of the positive impact the Games would leave on Russian society. From increased awareness and provision for people with disabilities to improved corporate and environmental governance – the Games will dramatically improve Russia."
