The venue plan for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games has been finalised and approved by the IOC during a visit by its co-ordination commission team led by Gilbert Felli and Jean-Claude Killy.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, Sochi 2014 CEO, said that Sochi’s venue plan – for clusters on the Black sea coast as well as in the mountains - had officially become the most compact in Winter Olympic History.
There had been some controversy over the sites for some venues, because of environmental concerns but approval of the biathlon facilities represented the final piece in the jigsaw.
“Having the venue plan finalised with the IOC is perhaps our greatest achievement to date. It is a major step forward,” said Chernyshenko who also confirmed some changes to the transport plan.
Instead of a four lane road linking the mountain venues to the city of Sochi some kilometres miles away, the road will have three lanes, while a twin railway will become a single railroad.
“Although these facilities were outlined in our bid, the revised plans will still exceed the capacity required by the Games,” Chernyshenko said.
The plans allow for 30,000 spectators an hour to be delivered to travel in one direction while the compact nature of the plans means that 60 per cent of athletes will be housed with walking distance of their venues. Nineteen of the Games venues are already under construction and all will be completed by the end of 2012, allowing two full winter seasons for test events.
Chernyshenko also said that the Organising Committee was is set to announce its first Tier 1 sponsors towards the end of November, once its marketing agreement with the International Olympic Committee had been signed.
The deal is critical because it established a benchmark for subsequent negotiation and, according to SOCOG CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko, the final roster is likely to include international companies anxious to make an impact in the fast-developing Russian market, as well as domestic companies. “We have had interest from local and international companies in sectors including cars,” Chernyshenko said.
