Sochi Olympic Park

Sochi Olympic Park is an Olympic Park that was constructed for the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics. Located in the urban-type settlement of Sirius near Sochi, in Imeretinsky Valley, on the Black Sea (about 4 km, or 2.5 miles from Russia's border with Abkhazia/Georgia), the Olympic Park houses the main Olympic Stadium used for the Games' ceremonies, and the venues that were used for indoor sports such as hockey, figure skating, curling, and speed skating. It also houses training facilities, the Olympic Village, the international broadcasting centre, and other amenities. The park was designed so that all of the venues would be accessible within walking distance of each other. The venues are situated around a water basin containing a fountain known as "The Waters of the Olympic Park"; designed by California-based WET (which also designed the cauldron for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City), the fountain measures 5.3 meters in diameter with a capacity of about 700,000 gallons of water, featuring more than 250 nozzles and jet systems that can create fog and choreographed water displays set to music.[1][2][3][4][5]

History

Construction of the complex in the Imereti Lowlands began in 2007. The Imereti Lowlands was an important bird area protected since 1911, most of which was destroyed during the construction. Most of the venues were completed by 2013. The Olympic Park was until 2019 located in the Adlersky City District of Sochi. However, in 2019 it was transferred into the newly established urban-type settlement of Sirius.

Facilities

Current
Map of the Olympic Park during the 2014 Olympic Games, with all venues gathered around the Medals Plaza (Note: This map does not include the Sochi Autodrome, which was not finished at the time of the Olympics. This map also does not account for any other post-game modifications to the Olympic Park. While included in the map, the cemetery is not labeled)
  • Fisht Olympic Stadium
  • Adler Arena
  • Bolshoy Ice Dome
  • Iceberg Palace
  • Shayba Arena
  • Sochi Autodrome
  • View from up

Other Facilities
Aerial view of the park during the Games
Sochi Park
  • Olympic Village: The main Olympic Village of the 2014 games is within the Olympic Park. It was built by Basic Element. The village consists of 47 buildings and is designed for three thousand people. Athletes, journalists and members of the Olympic family were housed there. Plans are for the Olympic Village be an off-season resort complex Sochnoye' ("Juicy").[15]
  • Sochi Medals Plaza: This plaza previously accommodated 20,000 standing spectators[13] for the victory ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic games. Portions of the venue now remain as a legacy feature of the Olympic Park.
  • Sochi Media Center: This venue served as the IBC for the 2014 Olympic games. Also hosted the World Chess Championship 2014. There have been plans to transform the media center into a shopping mall for a more sustainable post-games use.[7]
  • Sochi Park: A theme park themed around the history and culture of Russia, Sochi Park is the country's first theme park. The park is 20.5 hectares, and features its own adventure park, and a hotel complex which is themed to a medieval-era castle. The park first opened only to spectators and athletes of the Olympic Games (during which it received 140,000 visitors). The park was opened to the general public on International Children's Day 1 June 2014, with an official opening on 28 June 2014.
Cemetery

Within the Olympic Park lies a 2-acre cemetery, which predates the Olympic venues by nearly a century. The cemetery, which dates back to 1915, contains the graves of individuals that belonged to the Old Believers faith. The cemetery is located between the Iceberg Skating Palace, Fisht Stadium, and the medals plaza. It is located in a circular grove, but is largely obscured by plants. During the Olympic and Paralympic games, Canada and the United States had National Houses located near the graveyard on the end opposite to the medals plaza. Dmitry Chernyshenko, the president and CEO of the Sochi Organizing Committee, claimed in a September 2013 New York Times interview that the cemetery was retained both in good-will, and due to Russian law forbidding the moving of the graves. A cemetery needs to have had no new burials for at least a half-century, and only through the decision of relatives of those buried could a cemetery be considered for relocation. Burials are still ongoing at the cemetery.[16][17][18]

Former
  • Hockey Training Rink- This was a training venue for Ice Hockey during the Olympics
  • Ice Skating Training Rink -This was a training venue for Figure Skating during the Olympics

Transportation
Olympic Park railway station

On the north end of the Olympic Park is the Olympic Village Station, and on the south end of the Olympic Park is the Olympic Park Station (the main transit hub of the Olympic Park). Both stations are stops on the Abkhazian railway. Just south of the Olympic Park is the M27 highway.

For the Olympics, a railway line was built connecting the Olympic Village with the airport, Sochi Olympic Village, central Sochi, and the station in Krasnaya Polyana (home to the mountain-cluster of Olympic venues). A highway was also built alongside this to further connect the Olympic Park to this area.

The Olympic Park was originally going to be serviced by several stations along the planned Sochi Metro, before that project was cancelled.

Events

Football
Date Time (Moscow Time Zone) Round Team No. 1 Res. Team No. 2 Spectators
19 June 2017 (2017-06-19)18:00Group B Australia2–3 Germany28,605
21 June 2017 (2017-06-21)21:00Group A Mexico2–1 New Zealand25,133
25 June 2017 (2017-06-25)18:00Group B Germany3–1 Cameroon30,230
29 June 2017 (2017-06-29)21:00Semi-finals Germany4–1 Mexico37,923
Date Time (Moscow Time Zone) Round Team No. 1 Res. Team No. 2 Spectators
15 June 2018 (2018-06-15)21:00Group B Portugal3-3 SpainTBD
18 June 2018 (2018-06-18)18:00Group G Belgium3-0 Panama
23 June 2018 (2018-06-23)21:00Group F Germany2-1 Sweden
26 June 2018 (2018-06-26)17:00Group C Australia0-2 Peru
30 June 2018 (2018-06-30)21:00Round of 16 Uruguay2-1 Portugal
7 July 2018 (2018-07-07)21:00Quarter-finals Russia1(3)-1(4) Croatia

Motor racing

Motor racing events held at the Sochi Autodrom:

Cancelled G8 Summit

Sochi was originally scheduled to host the 40th G8 summit 4–5 June 2014.[25] On 24 March 2014, the other seven member nations decided that a summit would instead be held in Brussels, Belgium, without Russia's participation.[26] It was held in Brussels on the same dates it was planned for in Sochi.[27][28] The decision to suspend Russia from the organization was in response to the 2014 Crimean crisis and accompanying Russian intervention in Crimea. On 24 March, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the meeting would not take place in Russia due to the Crimean crisis.[29][30] Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda. Presidential Executive Office Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov was the chairman of the organizational committee on preparation for Russia's G8 presidency.[31] In Sochi, leaders were expected to focus on responses to new global threats during the next G8 summit.[25] The infrastructure of the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi was planned to be used to host the G8 summit. No additional pre-summit costs were budgeted.[25]

Images
Panoramic view of Sochi Olympic Park around the time of the 2014 games
Panorama showing the construction of Sochi Olympic Park

References
  1. Madler, Mark (24 February 2014). "WET Design Runs Rings Around Rivals". San Fernando Business Journal. Los Angeles, California: California Business Journals. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  2. "Sochi's mixed feelings over Olympics". BBC News. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  3. Russian Deputy PM leads Sochi delegation to inspect Munich Olympic Park Inside the Games, 22 May 2010
  4. "California-based WET makes the waters dance at Sochi". Gizmag. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  5. Посмотрели свысока Yugopolis, 16 July 2013
  6. Sochi2014.com profile of the Olympic Oval. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  7. Vasilyeva, Nataliya (2 February 2014). "Medvedev calls for plan for post-Olympic Sochi venues". canada.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  8. Wolken, Dan (22 February 2014). "Architect: Sochi Olympics unique hockey roof is 'our pride'". USA Today. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  9. Sochi2014.com profile of the Bolshoi Ice Palace. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  10. Sochi2014.com profile of Central Stadium. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  11. "FIFA Picks Cities for World Cup 2018". RIA Novosti, Moscow. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  12. Sochi2014.com profile of the Olympic Curling Centre. Archived 24 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 31 December 2010.
  13. Sochi2014.com profile of the Sochi Olympic Skating Centre. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  14. Sochi2014.com profile of the Maly Ice Palace. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  15. Данилович, Елена (19 September 2012). "Дорогая необходимость". kommersant.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  16. DiManno, Rosie (17 February 2014). "Cemetery tucked away in Sochi's Olympic Park gets few visitors". Toronto Star. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  17. Branch, John (19 August 2013). "Cemetery Left in Peace in City Remade by Olympics". New York Times. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  18. Wharton, David (20 February 2014). "Sochi Winter Games: Amid Olympic venues, a cemetery rests in peace". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  19. "Russian Figure Skating Championships start in Sochi". vestnikkavkaza.net. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  20. Hnatyuk, Vyacheslav (29 January 2015). "KHL All Stars Played in Sochi Last Sunday". thehockeywriters.com. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  21. "Dates for 2015 SportAccord International Convention in Sochi announced". Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  22. "Sochi to host 2015 SportAccord International Convention". Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  23. "New Wave Contest to be held at Olympic Park in Sochi". vestnikkaykaza.net. Vestnik Kavkaza. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  24. Russian Stars beat World Stars in VTB League All Star game.
  25. "Russia to hold 2014 G8 summit in Sochi: Putin" at PressTV.ir, 19 June 2013; retrieved 19 June 2013.
  26. Leaders plan Brussels G7 in June instead of G8 in Sochi Irish Independent, 24 March 2014.
  27. "G-7 spares Russia new sanctions".
  28. "G7 leaders warn Russia of fresh sanctions over Ukraine".
  29. Channel 4 News [@Channel4News] (24 March 2014). "There will be no G8 summit in Russia this year - David Cameron. #c4news" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. "G8 summit 'won't be held in Russia'", BBC News, 24 March 2014; retrieved 24 March 2014.
  31. "2014 G8 Summit to Be Held in Sochi--Putin," RIA Novosti, 4 February 2013'; retrieved 19 June 2013.
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