Sochi ski jump venue fully
ready for 2014 Winter Olympics
Athlete Aleksey Buivolov at a training
session at the Russkiye Gorki Jumping Center in
Sochi. (RIA Novosti)
With Sochi Games around the corner, the construction
is complete at the Mountain Carousel ski resort,
which will become one of the key venues in the Alpine
skiing program at the 2014 Winter Olympics in February.
The facility, which is situated in the Sochi’s
Krasnaya Polyana on the northern slope of the northern
slope of the Aibga Ridge, consists of the RusSki
Gorki Jumping Center and the Olympic Media Village.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has inspected
the Mountain Carousel on Wednesday as part of his
working visit to the Krasnodar Region.
The two ski jumps of 95 and 125 meters at the RusSki
Gorki were built in February 2012, but it’s
the infrastructure around them, which was a setback.
But now all the planned works at the venue are completed,
German Gref, the head of Russia’s biggest
bank, Sberbank, which is in charge of the project,
told the head of the state.
The stands with the capacity of 7,500 people are
in place and the necessary infrastructure is created
on the nearby slopes, Gref said.
Putin, who arrived at RusSki Gorki despite the heavy
rain, was satisfied with what he saw, saying: “Well
done!”
President Vladimir Putin, front,
inspects the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center in Sochi
on November 27, 2013. (RIA Novosti)
The RusSki Gorki ski jumps were placed at the junction
of two ridges so that that they’ll harmoniously
fit into the landscape and see the athletes protected
from cross winds.
The venue will host the ski jumping events and the
ski jumping part of the Nordic combined during the
Olympics.
Due to its artificial surface the ski jumps can
be used throughout the whole year, with the facility
already staging eight international events as part
of the preparations for Sochi 2014.
The president also stopped at one of the three-star
hotels in Media Village, which will become home
to the international journalists covering the Games.
The standard suite at the guesthouse has two rooms
and kitchen, already equipped with household appliances
and dishes.
The Media Village consists of several hotels, ranging
from three to five stars, which are built on two
levels – at 540 and 960 meters, respectively.
It’ll provide the press with 2,150 rooms,
with a total area of ??over 150,000 square meters.
The apartments in the Media Village will partly
be sold after the Olympics conclude at the price
of around $5,000 per square meter, Gref said.
Putin’s previous visit to the Mountain Carousel
in the beginning of the year resulted in a scandal
and strict disciplinary measures.
The president severely criticized Akhmed Bilalov,
head of the Resorts of North Caucasus company, which
was in charge of the construction back then, after
substantial cost overruns and schedule disruptions
were revealed.
As a result, Sberbank was assigned to finish the
project, while Bilalov was removed from the position
of vice-president of the Russian Olympic Committee.
Later, a criminal case has been launched against
him as the Bilalov is accused of abuse of power.
The Sochi Games will take place on February 7-23
to become the first Winter Olympics held on Russian
soil.
The event at the Black Sea resort will be followed
by the Paralympics on March 7-16.