Organisers of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics have reported good progress on building preparations and been praised for the strength of their marketing programme.
At a meeting with the IOC executive board yesterday, Sochi organising committee president and CEO Dmitry Chernoshenko said that construction work had begun on four venues in the Olympic park – the Bolshoi Ice Palace, Maly Ice Palace, the Curling Arena and the Olympic Skating Centre. He also confirmed that the organisers would be entirely self funded during the 2009-10 period, thanks to marketing operations which have generated $500 million already this year.
Reuters reports that IOC marketing chief Gerhard Heiberg, speaking after the meeting, said, “They are doing a very good job. I was sceptical in the beginning but now I can see what they are doing and I can only congratulate them.”
