Key facts

Sochi 2014 in Figures

• 17 days of competitions at the XXII Olympic Winter Games: February 7-23, 2014;
• 9 days of competitions at the XI Paralympic Winter Games: March 7 -16, 2014;
• 11 new world-class sports venues in Sochi, with seat capacity of around 120,000;
• 98 sets of medals to be competed for across 7 Olympic sports. That's 12 sets more than in Vancouver 2010, and 14 sets more than in Turin 2006;
• 72 sets of medals to be contested in 5 Paralympic sports;
• 6,000 Olympic athletes and team members hosted in Sochi for the Olympic Winter Games;
• 1,650 Paralympic athletes and team members hosted at the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi;
• Approximately 85 countries will take part in the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi;
• 45 countries will take part in the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi;
• 25,000 volunteers will work at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games;
• Around 13,000 representatives of the press and photographers will be accredited at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games;
• An estimated 3 billion TV viewers throughout the world will be watching the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Construction of Venues and Infrastructure

• The Sochi 2014 Games will be the most compact in the entire history of the hosting of the Winter Olympic Games. For the first time in their history, in Coastal Cluster an Olympic Park will be created which will be able to accommodate approximately 75,000 guests simultaneously. All competition venues of the Park will be located within walking distance of each other;
• The Mountain Cluster venues will be situated in Krasnaya Polyana, just 30 minutes from the Olympic Park via the new railway line. Snow sports venues, the Mountain Olympic Village, hotels and other infrastructural facilities will be based there;
• As of the end of 2012, over 5,000 pieces of equipment and over 70,000 workers were involved in the construction;
• Residents of the largest cities in Russia will be able to watch live broadcasts of Olympic events in specially designated Olympic venues (Live Sites).

The City of Sochi

• Inhabited by around 430,000 people representing over 100 nationalities, the city of Sochi is part of the Krasnodar Region, which has a population of 5.1 million people;
• Sochi is located in a unique climatic zone on the shore of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Western Caucasus mountain region;
• Sochi is famous for its unique combination of Mediterranean and Alpine climate. The average snow cover in the mountains is 2 meters. In winter, the temperature is regularly below zero, but there are usually no severe frosts;
• According to Forbes magazine, in 2012 Sochi was ranked as the best city to do business in Russia;
• The territory of Sochi amounts to 200,000 hectares, including 30,000 hectares of arboretums, botanic gardens and protected wildlife preserves containing unique flora and fauna.

Legacy of the Olympic Games

• Hosting the 2014 Games will make it possible to create Russia's first ever international winter sports center;
• The 2014 Games aid in increasing employment in Russia. To date, the total number of created and supported jobs in the various sectors of the Russian economy by the Olympic project has exceeded 560,000;
• According to the Plan for the Creation of a Barrier-Free Environment approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi will promote the active integration of people with disabilities into mainstream life in Russian society. The Games will set new standards for town planning, as all the venues and infrastructure will be designed with consideration of the needs of people with disabilities;
• The Games have become a catalyst for development of a “green” construction industry in Russia;
• The Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) has been created - a unique higher education institute designed to train a new generation of highly-qualified sports managers to international standards;
• The Sochi Games will be tobacco-free. The Sochi 2014 Games will be the 12th Games free from tobacco smoke, with a blanket ban that every day will protect over 155,000 athletes, sports delegation representatives and volunteers from the harmful effects of smoking. This is a unique opportunity to promote a healthy lifestyle and smoking cessation around the entire country;
• The volunteer movement in Russia is developing. A legislative basis has been created in the country, 26 volunteer centers are working;
• The Unified Identification System (UIS) is being developed. With just one card, thousands of guests and participants of the Games will be able to obtain information about the place and timetable of an event, about special transport routes to the venues, to gain entry to the sports venues and to use the public transport. With the help of this card, they will be able to pay for services and get all the information they need about hotels and local stores.