Sochi 2014 related news

[gotosy]

Russia to issue commemorative Olympic 100 rouble banknote

The Central Bank of Russia will issue a commemorative 100 rouble note in October, a hundred days before the start of the winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

"For the first time the Bank of Russia will release a commemorative Olympic bill, and for the first time the picture is vertically oriented," said first Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia Georgy Luntovsky, according to RIA Novosti News Agency.

The design of the banknote was revealed at a presentation at Krasnaya Poliana in Sochi. The banknote’s designer is a student of the Repin Institute of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Pavel Bushuev , who won a contest to design the banknote.

The blue tinted banknote depicts a flying snowboarder on one side, and on the other - the Olympic Stadium and a firebird. As part of another innovation the banknote will be released in an original gift box, according to Luntovsky.

10 million banknotes will be released into circulation in Russia, said Luntovksy. He added that it is not expected to be sold like Olympic commemorative coins, except for a small which will be made with a souvenir gift box, RIA novosti reports.

The first Olympic banknotes appeared in China for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. The Bird's Nest stadium and ancient Greek discus thrower statue, the Diskobolus of Myron, were emblazoned across a 10 Yuan note. The circulation of the Chinese Yuan was 14 million. Russia intends to maintain this tradition, according the Central Bank.

A hundred roubles is equal to about $3.30.

http://rt.com/business/russia-to-issue-commemorative-olympic-banknote-156/

[dixitjavia]

Sochi has different history and amazing fact and I think it is one of my favourite winter olympic destination. second reason, shiva keshavan is participating in winter olympics 2014 and only indian who is playing luge in any international level.

http://www.indiaforshiva.com/

[gotosy]

2014 Oscars show moves to March to avoid Winter Olympics clash

LOS ANGELES, March 25 (Reuters) - Next year's Academy Awards
ceremony - the highlight of the annual movie awards season -
will be held on March 2, a week later than normal, so as not to
clash with the Winter Olympics in Russia in February, organizers
said on Monday.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also
announced a Feb. 22 date for the 2015 Oscar ceremony and said
both awards shows will be televised live as usual by ABC from
the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The Winter Olympics are to be held in Sochi, Russia, from
Feb. 7-23, forcing several of Hollywood's big awards shows to
shift their traditional dates to avoid a clash with blanket TV
coverage of the games.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards, one of the key ceremonies
ahead of the Oscars, has already announced that its 2014
ceremony will move back from the end of January to Jan. 18.

The Golden Globes ceremony, Hollywood's second biggest
awards show, has for the past 10 years taken place in Beverly
Hills in mid-January but organizers have yet to announce a date
for the 2014 show.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands
out the Oscars, has shifted its awards ceremony in the past to
avoid competition from the Winter Olympics.

...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rt-film-oscars2014l2n0ch1d5-20130325,0,4480470.story

[intoronto]

Russia to have 220 athletes at Sochi Olympics

Moscow, Mar 27 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Russia will have a delegation of around 220 athletes at its first home Winter Olympics in Sochi next year, the team's chef de mission Alexander Kravtsov said.

It is a substantial increase on the 177 sportsmen and women at Vancouver 2010 and 14 more than what hosts Canada had at those Games.

"We are counting on 220 people, taking into account certain nuances and peculiarities," Kravtsov said Tuesday.

The maximum allocation Russia could have had was 256, Kravtsov said, but that would require the maximum possible qualification in every sport.

The Olympics run from Feb 7 to 23.

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=168631

[Sir Rols]

Russia storing 119 million gallons of snow for Winter Olympics

The host of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games is putting fears over its readiness on ice. Literally. Officials in Sochi, Russia, announced they are storing 118,877,424 gallons of snow in preparation for the games.

That’s because while some parts of Russia have experienced an

unusually cold winter, there has actually been a bit of a snow shortage

in Sochi.

"We've prepared seven separate areas for snow storage high up in the

mountains," Sergei Bachin, general director of Roza Khutor, a ski resort

whose facilities are being used in the games, told Reuters. "We're

storing such huge amounts of snow just in case."

Bachin said the situation is extremely unusual because the region

normally has too much snow. About 1,000 miles north, Moscow is

frantically busy digging itself out of a massive snowstorm.

In fact, Sochi Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko

said the concerns over warm weather are so serious that they're

currently trumping worries over security, general readiness and even how well the Russians will perform.

Bachin told Reuters the extra snow is being coated with a “special thermo seal” to keep it from melting before next year.

The entire project is estimated to cost about $11 million.

"This was a very odd winter. Even locals don't remember when was the

last time they had such warm days in the mountains," said Bachin. "It's

highly unlikely we'll see the same kind of weather next year."

Yahoo News

[Athensfan]

I can see why that would have them sweating.

[world atlas]

Sochi 2014 Technology Lab now fully operational

30/04/2013

Atos, the Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic Games, has announced that the Sochi 2014 Technology Lab is now fully operational, as technology plans for next year’s Olympic Winter Games continue.

The Technology Lab is where the IT systems for every sports event and venue will be put through a series of tests. Its opening marks the launch of more than 100,000 hours of IT testing, which will include two technical rehearsals during which up to 500 different scenarios will be tested to ensure that the Atos Business Technologists, technology and procedures are ready to respond to any situation that could arise during the Games.

Patrick Adiba, CEO Iberia, Major Events and Olympic Games at Atos, said: “We are confident that the technology for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games is on track. The opening of the Technology Lab and the start of the IT testing marks a major milestone in our project plan and our whole team is committed to delivering our personal best to ensure a successful Games in 2014.”

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will mark the first time that myInfo+ – a service used by print and broadcast media to check information including the competition schedule, medal ranking, weather reports and news feeds – will be available on all mobile devices. Broadcasters – both in Sochi and remotely around the world – will also have access to the Commentator Information System, which provides the latest competition information and scores.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, President, Sochi 2014, said: “We are committed to the Sochi 2014 Winter Games being the most digital Games ever and are delighted to be working with Worldwide IT Partner of the IOC – Atos. It is invaluable to be able to draw on the knowledge that Atos brings from its experience of delivering six previous Games.”

The Atos team has been in Russia since June 2010, first based in Moscow before moving to Sochi in May 2012. The team now comprises around 70 business technologists and has already delivered the volunteer portal, which is used to manage and process all the applications for the 25,000 volunteer roles.

Between now and the start of the Games, Atos will test and run the technology infrastructure and systems that will make the Games happen. This includes the solution that will deliver the results to the world’s media in 0.3 seconds and the systems to issue 220,000 accreditations that allow entry to the venues and also serve as a visa for athletes, media, sponsor and officials to enter the Russian Federation. By the time the Games arrive, Atos will manage the deployment of 900 servers, 1,000 network and security devices and 6,500 computers.

http://www.olympic.org/news/sochi-2014-technology-lab-now-fully-operational/196046

[world atlas]

What's Not on the Menu for Sochi Olympics?

06 May 2013 | Issue 5121

The Moscow Times

top4man.ru

Don't expect to see the Russian favorite macaroni po-flotsky on any menus.

A list containing 11 forbidden ingredients that must not be served to athletes or spectators at the Winter Olympics in Sochi has been sent to the games' organizing committee in an attempt to prevent outbreaks of food poisoning.

According to the document, sent by the Federal Service on Customer Rights, "caterers must not serve homemade beer, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, tvorog made from unpasteurized milk, either separately or in blini, dried fish or mushrooms."

Macaroni po-flotsky, a pasta dish similar to spaghetti bolognese, has also been outlawed.

The federal agency, headed by Gennady Onischenko, said that the list of banned products was taken directly from regulations on food safety adopted in 2001, which also state that "companies specializing in food services must implement SanPiN (Sanitary Norms and Rules). Violation of its requirements may be punished by fines of hundreds of thousands of rubles."

Although food outlets are obliged to follow SanPin regulations, some are finding ways of getting around the restrictions.

Alexander Ivanov, vice president of the Federation of Restaurateurs, used the example of macaroni po-flotsky, the preparation of which will be banned, "to prevent the occurrence and spread of infectious disease and mass outbreaks of poisoning."

"You won't find macaroni po-flotsky written on menus because restaurants will use a foreign name for the dish instead," Ivanov told Izvestia, which first reported about the food restrictions Monday.

He added that some sanitary norms have become outdated and need to be revised after food outlets adopted new technologies that current SanPin regulations have not yet taken into account.

Food safety at Sochi will be controlled by the organizing committee, Sochi-2014, although it has so far declined to say exactly how this will be done, other than to state that the official food safety codex will be followed.

Catering for the Olympic and Paralympic Games will require 15 contractors to serve up 967 products from 10 different food outlet formats, and provide 30,000 seats.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/olympic_coverage/article/whats-not-on-the-menu-for-sochi-olympics/479598.html

[Victor Mata]

Looks like food fixed by desperately hungry undergraduates.

[gotosy]

Russia Scraps Visas for Foreign Athletes

MOSCOW May 13, 2013 (AP)


President Vladimir Putin has waived visa requirements for athletes, coaches and other staff attending international sporting events in Russia.

Russia is hosting the Winter Olympics next year and the soccer World Cup in 2018. In August, the Athletics World Championships will be held in Moscow.

The decree Putin signed Tuesday said the visa waiver goes into effect immediately.

To qualify for visa-free status, athletes and others must have documents that confirm their identity and official accreditation from organizers of the sporting event.

Americans, Europeans and others normally have to apply for a Russian visa weeks ahead of their arrival in the country.

AP

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russia-scraps-visas-foreign-athletes-19169608#.UZEwXTBv-3Z

[gotosy]

Sochi 2014 set to unveil Games medals

The Sochi 2014 Organising Committee announced that it will unveil the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic medals for next year on 30 May.

The presentation of the medals will take place in St. Petersburg, Russia during the 11th SportAccord International Convention.

In accordance with tradition, the Olympic medals will be presented a year before the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi. The presentation is an exciting milestone for Sochi 2014 as it will be the first time the medals will be presented to the public.

During the Games, a record-breaking number of medals will be produced. Approximately, 1,300 medals will be made, designed to emphasise Russia’s national character and identity.

President and CEO of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee Dmitry Chernyshenko will attend the medals presentation ceremony in St. Petersburg alongside famous athletes and public figures.

IPC

[Ikarus360]

^^ Here's hoping they have a nice design. Something positive about the WOG medals is that they allow more room for creativity.

My all time favorite WOG medals:

Nagano 1998

Salt Lake 2002

Lillehammer '94

[gotosy]

Mario and Sonic team up for Sochi 2014

May 17 - Nintendo and Sega have a new partnerhsip to develop computer game Mario and Sonic for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, it was announced today.

The new Wii U exclusive game features events such as skiing, snowboarding and figure-skating.

Some events make specific use of the Wii U Game Pad, such as curling, where the trajectory of the stone is drawn on the controller's touch screen.

There will also be a mix of decathlon and triathlon races for multiplayer tournaments.

Nintendo Global President Satoru Itawa announced "Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games" during during a Nintendo Direct presentation.

Sonic has competed against Nintendo mustachioed spokesman Mario since 2007 in the "Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games" mini-game series and this will be the fourth of a series that also includes Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.

Curling will be among the sports to feature in the new Mario and Sochi 2014 game

"The graphics are enhanced in comparison to earlier games in the series," Itawa said.

"The characters are detailed and environment effects such as snow and ice are realistically presented.

"In addition to returning events such as skiing and snowboarding, we have added figure skating pairs, and an event that is new for the 2014 Sochi WInter Games: snowboarding slopestyle."

"You'll also be able to compete against friends in curling, ice hockey, downhill, ski jump, speed skating, the biathlon, and a 'dream event' that basically combines Mario Kart with snowboarding and bobsled."

No release date has been set for the new game yet.

http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/winter-olympics/2014/1014292-mario-and-sonic-team-up-for-sochi-2014

[world atlas]

Sochi 2014 Olympic medals

[world atlas]

[world atlas]

Paralympic gold medal

[Fox334]

I find them fairly average - not as good as Vancouver, Salt Lake or Nagano but they aren't bad. I do like the Paralympics medals better, though.

Either way, it will look good when its worn by athletes, which is what matters.

[Faster]

I like them. A little too much like Albertville's, but nice and simple.

[intoronto]

I like them. They have a nice and simple design.

[olympian]

i prefer the paralympic medals. but still nice. Vancouver's still the heaviest Winter Olympic medal right?

[Mr Tickle]

I really like the Paralympic one. The section of the Olympic medal with the Olympic rings looks like a section of the London logo

[paul]

Sochi Olympics a "monstrous scam" - Russian opposition - BBC

"The expenses for the Winter Olympics in Sochi turned out to be more than all expenses for all the sports structures at the previous 21 Winter Olympics put together," the report says.

...what else is new.

[krow]

i thought they looked really nice until i saw the paralympic ones, which are even better. those are some gorgeous medals.

i notice how nobody in this thread has posted torino's awful donut hole medals. sochi's make much better use of open and transparent space. it's a refreshing concept.

admittedly i did just have to google albertville's. hideous. it looks like the design for a plastic water bottle. sochi improves on the concept in every way, so silver linings.

[nykfan845]

I think Nagano medals are still my favorite, but the Sochi medals are beautiful.

[Rob2012]

Paralympic ones are lovely. Olympic ones are quite nice.

Overall a thumbs up.