Legacy Mode

[SkiFreak]

Blogs and articles talking about Sochi's legacy...

CBC: Sochi Olympics' 'ugly environmental legacy' on a small village: Nahlah Ayed

CTV News: Peter Akman blog: What legacy will the Olympics leave in Sochi?

[intoronto]

"The spokesperson for the IOC admits that maybe it’s time to scale back: "The idea that perhaps a more traditional country would produce a smaller scale games with a different legacy, it’s entirely possible," Mark Adams told the Associated Press this week."

Has Oslo written all over it.

[SkiFreak]

"The spokesperson for the IOC admits that maybe it’s time to scale back: "The idea that perhaps a more traditional country would produce a smaller scale games with a different legacy, it’s entirely possible," Mark Adams told the Associated Press this week."

Has Oslo written all over it.

Exactly.

[Rob2012]

U-turn on plans to turn Sochi 2014 skating venue into velodrome leaves cycling legacy in doubt

Russian officials have backtracked over plans to turn the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi into a velodrome after admitting that it is likely to remain an ice arena.

Under initial legacy plans, the 12,000 seater Skating Palace, which hosted figure skating and short track speed skating during last month's Olympics, was going to be converted into a velodrome which would be at the centre of Russia's track cycling programme.

But doubt on this plan was first cast last month when Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov admitted that its final function was yet to be decided.

Vladimir Vagenleitner, who is responsible for cycling development in the Krasnodar region where Sochi is located, has now admitted that the redevelopment was now unlikely to proceed as planned.

"There is a Government decree to reconstruct the Iceberg [into a velodrome] and our Federation's specialists are working on it," he said.

"A project will obviously be carried out, but will the reconstruction take place?

"We can suppose with a great deal of certainty that the Iceberg ice arena will remain an ice arena.

"But we will still push for the creation of infrastructure to develop cycling in this region."

A legacy for summer as well as winter sports is one aspect of the appeal of Sochi 2014 and it was something highlighted several times during the Games by the Organising Committee.

But, with doubt also being cast over the future of several other venues, there is a danger of these legacy pledges not being fulfilled as promised.

Under existing plans, the 7,000-capacity Shaiba ice hockey arena and the hockey training hall are to be redeveloped into a children's sport facility - although this is yet to receive final confirmation, while the Ice Cube Curling Center is now envisaged as a training facility after earlier plans to move the venue to Moscow were dropped.

However, the Fisht Olympic Stadium is still set to be a venue for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while the main ice hockey arena, the Bolshoy Ice Dome, looks likely to host a Kontinental Hockey League professional team called Sochi Dolphins.

The Adler Arena, which hosted speed skating during the Games, is set to be an exhibition centre, while the Alpine venues in the mountains will revert to being ski resorts or training centres for Russia's national teams in various sports.

http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/winter-olympics/2014/1018778-u-turn-on-plans-to-turn-sochi-2014-skating-venue-into-velodrome-leaves-cycling-legacy-in-doubt

[mr.bernham]

http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/winter-olympics/2014/1018778-u-turn-on-plans-to-turn-sochi-2014-skating-venue-into-velodrome-leaves-cycling-legacy-in-doubt

Sounds like Athens/Beijing all over again...

[gotosy]

Putin Pushes Formula 1 as Sochi Olympic Legacy Project

A model of the Russian Formula 1 tracks in Sochi

SOCHI, March 8 (R-Sport) – Russian President Vladimir Putin was keen to emphasize the Olympic legacy benefits of hosting Formula One racing in Sochi as he met with the sport’s supremo Bernie Ecclestone on Saturday.

The first F1 Russian Grand Prix will be held at Sochi’s new Olympic Park circuit in October, winding around the venues from last month’s Sochi Olympics.

Part of the aim is to stop the park falling into disuse like many recent Olympic facilities, such as those in Athens and Beijing.

“It’s very pleasing to me that the Formula One project in Sochi will be a bright and good addition to what was done in the preparations for the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games,” Putin said at a meeting with Ecclestone in Sochi.

“And it will allow us later on to more effectively use everything that’s been created here, when these major competitions end.”

Putin conceded that there had been some problems in preparing to host F1 in Russia, a possible reference to reported construction delays, but added: “We will overcome them.”

A Russian team, Marussia, and Russian driver Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso are to be on the grid for the October 12 race.

Sochi organizers are planning to move the date of the Grand Prix to May for the 2015 season in an apparent attempt to tie the race into the high season for beach tourism in the city.

The Russian Grand Prix will be the culmination of three decades of efforts to bring the sport to Russia, dating back to Soviet government plans for a Moscow Grand Prix that never came to fruition.

http://en.ria.ru/sochi2014/20140308/188222859/Putin-Pushes-Formula-1-as-Sochi-Olympic-Legacy-Project.html

[JLishere]

Putin Pushes Formula 1 as Sochi Olympic Legacy Project

A model of the Russian Formula 1 tracks in Sochi

SOCHI, March 8 (R-Sport) – Russian President Vladimir Putin was keen to emphasize the Olympic legacy benefits of hosting Formula One racing in Sochi as he met with the sport’s supremo Bernie Ecclestone on Saturday.

The first F1 Russian Grand Prix will be held at Sochi’s new Olympic Park circuit in October, winding around the venues from last month’s Sochi Olympics.

Part of the aim is to stop the park falling into disuse like many recent Olympic facilities, such as those in Athens and Beijing.

“It’s very pleasing to me that the Formula One project in Sochi will be a bright and good addition to what was done in the preparations for the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games,” Putin said at a meeting with Ecclestone in Sochi.

“And it will allow us later on to more effectively use everything that’s been created here, when these major competitions end.”

Putin conceded that there had been some problems in preparing to host F1 in Russia, a possible reference to reported construction delays, but added: “We will overcome them.”

A Russian team, Marussia, and Russian driver Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso are to be on the grid for the October 12 race.

Sochi organizers are planning to move the date of the Grand Prix to May for the 2015 season in an apparent attempt to tie the race into the high season for beach tourism in the city.

The Russian Grand Prix will be the culmination of three decades of efforts to bring the sport to Russia, dating back to Soviet government plans for a Moscow Grand Prix that never came to fruition.

http://en.ria.ru/sochi2014/20140308/188222859/Putin-Pushes-Formula-1-as-Sochi-Olympic-Legacy-Project.html

I don't buy the Formula One legacy at all. One race a year. How is that sustainable for the people of Sochi?

[JMarkSnow2012]

I don't buy the Formula One legacy at all. One race a year. How is that sustainable for the people of Sochi?

Potentially they can also develop other motor sport events, like Le Mans (hey, maybe they can use the Fisht stadium as a Vegas-style casino/ circus most of the year, too).

[Tony E Loves Architecture]

The Adler Arena Skating Centre in Sochi will Host the Fed Cup Tennis next month. Full story here - http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/winter-olympics/2014/1018964-sochi-2014-speed-skating-venue-to-host-fed-cup-tennis - Source: Inside the Games.

[SkiFreak]

CBC News: Roza Khutor avalanche kills 2 skiers

An avalanche killed two skiers on Sunday at the Russian mountain resort used for the Sochi Olympics the day after it opened to the public, the resort said.

Nice way to start Legacy Mode.

[gotosy]

Putin uses Olympics cash to start Soviet-style fitness program

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin launched a program to improve the physical fitness of Russians on Monday, using funds from the Winter Olympics to revive a Soviet-era plan.

Speaking at a meeting with officials in the Kremlin, Putin said that reinstating the plan, first introduced in the 1930s under Joseph Stalin and known in Russia by the acronym GTO, would "pay homage to our national historical traditions".

Putin said funds earmarked for the Winter Games in Sochi last month but unused would go to support sports venues and promote healthy lifestyles among Russians from the age of six.

"The Olympics and Paralympics have demonstrated that we are again becoming one of the leaders in global sports," Putin said, after his country hosted the $50-billion games.

Putin frequently harks back to the Soviet era to appeal to nostalgic Russians.

The end of the Winter Olympic Games and the Paralympics in Sochi were marred by events in Ukraine which led to Russia's annexation of its Crimea region in a move condemned by the West and the new government in Kiev.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over the move but it has boosted Putin's popularity at home, where almost half of Russians said they supported the referendum to make Crimea part of Russia, according to a poll by the independent Levada Center published earlier this month.

Putin's own approval ratings were at 72 percent, up from 65 percent at the beginning of the year, according to another poll published by Levada this month.

The president has been seeking to increase Russians' life expectancy and stem a demographic decline that has seen the population fall to below 142 million in 2011 from 148.6 million in 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed.

Reuters

[StefanMUC]

There were funds left? So the real cost wasn't 51bn USD, but just 5.1bn, and the rest is now used to put Russians into 1930s shape.

[JMarkSnow2012]

There were funds left? So the real cost wasn't 51bn USD, but just 5.1bn, and the rest is now used to put Russians into 1930s shape.

Accountants- don'cha just love them?!

[gotosy]

FINA President Wants 2020 World Swimming Champs in Sochi

KAZAN, Russia, March 27 (R-Sport) - The president of the International Swimming Federation says Russia's Olympic city of Sochi would be the ideal location for the 2020 world short course championships.

Julio Maglione, also an International Olympic Committee member who attended the Winter Games last month, said Thursday he couldn't think of a better venue for the event than the Black Sea resort.

"We were at the Olympics in Sochi," he said. "The best Olympic Games in history were held there. Amazing competitions, an excellent team. Sochi could be an excellent place to hold the 2020 world championships," the Uruguayan added.

There is currently no 25m pool among the six coastal arenas, which were used for hockey, speedskating and figure skating during the Games.

Russia is already slated to host next year's world aquatics championships in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, at the venues built for last year's world student games.

The next host city for the short course worlds, which are held every two years, is Doha in December, with Windsor, Canada, slated for 2016.

http://en.rsport.ru/other_sports/20140327/738893459.html

[StefanMUC]

I suggest the next open water world champs to be held on a course between Sochi and Sevastopol.

Do sports officials ever realise in what kind of world they want their precious events to take place???

[baron-pierreIV]

I hope Maglione was being sarcastic.

[Rob2012]

Sochi speed skating venue

[mr.bernham]

All I have to say about Sochi and it's 'legacy', Putin, and "The New Russia" is: Let it Burn, Let it Burn, from the oil pipes below! Let it Burn! Let it Burn! Turn away and laugh at them...sorry I got a bit too carried away...kinda like their budget.

[Tony E Loves Architecture]

Sochi Bids to Host the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships. Full story here - http://www.aroundtherings.com/site/A__46786/Title__Sochi-Bids-for-Skating-Champs-FIFA-Visiting-Unfinished-Stadiums/292/Articles - Source: Around the Rings.

[gotosy]

Russian 'Disneyland' to Open in Sochi Next Month

Disneyland layout in the Sochi Olympic Park (Archive)

SOCHI, April 22 (RIA Novosti) – The Sochi amusement park in the Russian resort city, which earlier hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, is to open its doors to the first visitors this May, with a grand opening set for early June, the city authority said Tuesday.

“Over 18 attractions will be available to visitors by the time of the opening. The park operated in a test mode during the Olympics, offering its guests only six rides,” the message by the Sochi administration said.

The Sochi Park, also known to locals as the “Russian Disneyland,” is located in the sprawling Imeret Lowlands and borders on the Olympic Park, the location of the magnificent skating and hockey venues.

The authority said that ticket prices will fluctuate throughout the year based on the season, but the maximum price will be fixed at 1,500 rubles (roughly 42 dollars). A full ticket will grant its buyer access to absolutely all carrousels and rides in the park.

Although dubbed after the world-famous Disneyland franchise, the Russian land of amusement and fantasy is reportedly styled after the Russian fairy world and cartoons familiar to generations of Russians.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140422/189312318/Russian-Disneyland-to-Open-in-Sochi-Next-Month.html

[baron-pierreIV]

Why it was really good for Russia/Putin gang to spend $51 billion on Sochi: because, otherwise, that $51 billion would've gone to more weapons purchases and R&D with which to menace all of their neighbors -- and the world at large again. At least Putin isn't rattling high-tech, Death-Star-type weapons at Ukraine. So if only for that do I think that the $51 billion price tag of the Sochi party was well spent.

[gotosy]

Sochi hockey team confirmed by KHL

The Kontinental Hockey League will add a team based in Sochi for next season, a boost to legacy plans for the 2014 Olympic host city.

The club will likely play in either the Bolshoy Ice Dome or Shayba Arena, the two hockey venues located in the Olympic Park, making it the first sports team to be based in an arena used at the Sochi Olympics.

The KHL is widely considered to be the strongest hockey competition outside the NHL. While most of the teams are based in Russia, the league also includes teams in several former communist countries.

Besides Sochi, the KHL also said Wednesday on its website that it will add Finnish team Jokerit and Lada Tolyatti, a club in central Russia, to bring the league to 31 teams in nine countries.

Sochi, a small city on the Black Sea coast, is far from Russian hockey's traditional fan base in central and eastern cities. The nearest KHL team is Donbass Donetsk in Ukraine.

The team has been named the Sochi Leopards by the regional governor, but that is not yet official, the league said.

The confirmation of the team comes a week after Vladimir Katrenko, a director of Russia's state auditing agency, told parliament that the country's Sports Ministry "should take urgent measures" to improve inadequate Olympic legacy plans. The government also wants defunct local football club Zhemchuzhina Sochi to be revived. That team in all likelihood would eventually play at the Fisht Olympic Stadium, a 2018 World Cup venue.

...

AP

https://za.news.yahoo.com/sochi-hockey-team-confirmed-khl-141515836.html

[zekekelso]

Offtopic note: Congrats to Mike Keenan for just coaching Metallurge to the KHL championship.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2014/04/former-nhl-coach-mike-keenan-wins-khl-championship-in-russia/

Metallurg Magnitogorsk

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2014/04/former-nhl-coach-mike-keenan-wins-khl-championship-in-russia/

[Tulsa]

A blog about the ghost city of Sotchi after WoG http://blogsochi.ru/content/mertvyi-gorod

Sotchi is the biggest fail since a long time for WoG

[SwissO]

A blog about the ghost city of Sotchi after WoG http://blogsochi.ru/content/mertvyi-gorod

Sotchi is the biggest fail since a long time for WoG

Except that there is no proof that those pics have been taken only a few days after the Paralympics....

From my pov, those pics are from month before the Games... there is no was than in two weeks all the look and feel has been taken down....

And following the Games there is always month without people around venues, exept workers... as you need month to dismantle everything and reconfigure venues...

The legacy of Sochi is actually pretty good... They already organized an intenational event in one the venue (fed cup)... they will have a F1 race every year... they will have the FIFA World Cup... they will have a permanent ice hockey team.... they will turn into a velodrom one of the venue ....