KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay returns to Europe from Asia

©Sochi 2014

23/12/2013

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay made the symbolic crossing from Asia back into Europe last week, as it traversed the river Ural on a tram decorated with the Sochi 2014 colours during the 11th week of the 123-day relay.

The Olympic flame then also completed a tour of Russia’s largest steelworks, in Magnitogorsk. Against a dramatic backdrop of giant cast-iron boilers and kilometres of pipelines, the Torch was carried through the plant, which produces 13m tonnes of steel each year.

During this, its third day in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, the Torch was borne by Olympic rowing champion Igor Kravtsov and hockey players Sergei Golomyako and Evgeniy Koreshkov. During a tour of the city’s Central stadium, biathletes Ivan Kalyanov and Pavel Borisov skied with Olympic flame in their hands.

Later, Oksana Borzilo rode a snow-white horse along the street then handed the Torch to motocross champion Viktor Korzhov, who transported it on a quadricycle.

The day ended with Viktor Rashnikov, president of Metallurg hockey club, lighting the Olympic Cauldron following festivities at the Arena Metallurg Ice Palace.

The Torch had arrived in Magnitogorsk from the region’s capital, Chelyabinsk, where six-time Olympic skating champion Lidia Skoblikova and governor of the Chelyabinsk region Mikhail Yurevich lit the Olympic Cauldron in the ‘Tractor’ ice arena.

During its two-day stay in the city, the Torch was carried on skis, skates, by motorcycle – and even on a camel, a creature that is depicted on the Chelyabinsk coat of arms.

Riding the camel – called Barsik – was motocross athlete Eugene Zemskov, while the flame was transported on skis in the hands of Olympic biathlon gold medallists Svetlana Ishmuratova and Alexander Tikhonov. Motocross champions Alexander Platonov and Vitaly Tonkov completed their leg of the Torch Relay by motorcycle.

Taking to the ice with the Torch on its final day in Chelyabinsk was Innsbruck 64 bronze medallist Tatiana Sidorova. She skated with the flame in the ‘Ural Lightning’ Ice Palace skating venue, with the event culminating in an ice disco.

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay is now set to visit Ufa, capital of Bashkortostan, as it continues its journey across Russia on its way to the Opening Ceremony of Sochi 2014 on 7 February 2014.
The route has been designed to ensure that around 90 per cent of Russia's population will be within an hour of the Relay at some stage, allowing approximately 130 million residents to participate in the event.

Find out more about the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners athttp://torchrelay.sochi2014.com/en/Partners

More information on the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay can be found athttp://torchrelay.sochi2014.com/en/

Information on tickets for Sochi 2014 is available here
http://www.olympic.org/news/sochi-2014-olympic-winter-games-tickets/190291

 

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Olympic Day competition winner Iuri Vinuto in Lausanne for the opening of The Olympic Museum

23/12/2013

Twenty-one year-old Iuri Vinuto from Sao Paulo, Brazil, took a break from his triathlon training to see the new look of The Olympic Museum. He also visited the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Vidy, Lausanne. “I really enjoyed my trip to Lausanne - it is the capital of the Olympic world. For athlete to see how people from International Olympic Committee bring the magic of the games to live is very inspirational.” 

Vinuto is the winner of the trip to Lausanne, for his photo taken along the Brazilian coast. Cycling with a group of friends on a sunny day, he captured his winning “active” shot with his mobile phone. An aspiring triathlete, the young rider admitted setting his sights on competing in the next Olympic Summer Games in his home country in 2016, and trains every day in the hope of achieving this goal.

“My main focus is to train as hard as possible to qualify and compete in Rio in 2016. Representing my country at the games we organize and with the family and friends supporting me would be amazing” – he said.

Iuri had his first taste of the Olympic spirit in 2010 – he is a YOG athlete who took part in the first-everSummer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore 2010. When asked about the YOG, the Brazilian triathlete exclaimed: “My Olympic dream has begun with the Youth Olympic Games. It was just a first step but it was a key one. For me and my friends who competed there it is the best experience of our life. It keeps us motived in the pursuit of the ultimate goal – Olympic Games”.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Charles Hamelin, a family affair on ice

©IOC

18/12/2013

Canadian short track speed skater Charles Hamelin is hoping Sochi 2014 will produce a repeat of Vancouver 2010, where he won 500m gold and his brother Francois and fiancée Marianne Saint-Gelais also picked up short track medals.

Vancouver 2010 was an unforgettable occasion for Charles Hamelin. The short track speed skater claimed double gold, first claiming the 500m, and then helping Canada to the 5,000m team relay title, in which he had the added satisfaction of climbing onto the podium with his younger brother Francois. And then, for the icing on the cake, he also saw his girlfriend Marianne Saint-Gelais collect two silvers at the Pacific Coliseum. Keen to repeat those triumphs, the Quebec trio are now hoping to star on the ice at Sochi, where Yves Hamelin, father of Charles and Francois, will also be on duty as Canada’s short track team coach.   Looking ahead to the big event, the older of the Hamelin brothers said: “Training has been intense right from the day after the last Olympic Games, and we’ve been focusing on nothing else but Sochi 2014. We have this burning desire to represent our country again and get back on the podium, all with the hope of repeating our achievements.”   Way back in autumn 2010, Hamelin explained how he would be preparing for Sochi: “My goal is to try new strategies to make myself more dangerous for 2014. Now it's not to win medals, but to work on things that are difficult mentally - to put myself in situations where I'm not always in control, so that even if I'm last, I won't panic and do stupid things.”

Taking it to the next level  The Canadian star has managed to stay at the summit throughout the current Olympic cycle. He served further notice of his ability over longer distances by winning gold medals with the national 5,000m relay team at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in 2011 and 2012, and adding the 3,000m relay title in 2013. On the individual front, meanwhile, he finished runner-up in the 1,000m and 1,500m events at the 2011 Worlds, where he also won overall silver.   His appetite for medals unsated, Hamelin is anxious to excel in Russia alongside his nearest and dearest: “When you start to win medals you forget about all the hours and hours of training. Our goal since 2010 has been to become even better athletes by the time Sochi comes around. I am on top form right now and I really believe I can do it.”  Hamelin says he has become “more ruthless” and his recent performances back that up. In the four ISU Short Track World Cup stages between September and November 2013, he claimed no less than six victories.

Although the South Koreans, Chinese and Americans are sure to provide particularly intense competition, the Hamelin clan are working hard to be in the right physical and mental shape at Sochi and to get their tactics spot on.  

There were few more emotional sights at Vancouver 2010 than Hamelin hugging girlfriend Marianne after his 500m win in Vancouver, a scene that that had the whole of Canada reaching for their hankies. Asked if we might be in for a repeat in Sochi, he replied: “It was a magical and totally spontaneous moment. If it happens again, it will be for real and there’ll be nothing staged about it, though it won’t come as quite such a surprise as it did then. Sochi will be my third Games, and overall I feel my career is shaping up to be a pretty successful one.”

For more information, follow him on the Athletes' hub. 

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Coline Mattel soars to success

©Getty Images

19/12/2013

French ski jumper Coline Mattel began her burgeoning career at the age of 13. Still in her teens, she is among the favourites to land gold in the first ever women’s Olympic ski jumping competition on the RusSki Gorki hill at Sochi 2014.

“It’s huge to be taking part in the Games,” says 18-year-old Coline Mattel. “It’s what every sportswoman dreams about and it’s a really big thing for us. When we heard in 2011 that the IOC had included women’s ski jumping on the programme at Sochi, our mindsets began to change. We all became more involved and more serious about training. It’s going to be amazing for all of us to share the stage with the world’s best athletes.” The French athlete, who hails from Contamines-Montjoie, is regarded as one of the finest female ski jumpers in the world along with the USA’s Sarah Hendrickson, Austria’s Daniela Iraschko, Japan’s Sara Takanashi and Slovenia’s Katja Pozun.

Like most youngsters growing up in the mountains, Coline started out in Alpine skiing, but her passion for ski jumping was ignited at a very early age: “What I love is feeling that fear at the top of the hill and being able to conquer it. There’s nothing else quite like it.” She burst on to the international scene at the age of 13, winning bronze at the 2009 FIS World Junior Ski Championships in Strbske Pleso, Slovakia and going on to finish fifth when women’s ski jumping made its debut at the World Ski Championships later that year in Liberec.

Laying down a marker

Her own ascendancy has coincided with that of women’s ski jumping, which graduated from Continental Cup status to become a fully fledged FIS World Cup sport in 2011. That same year, Mattel made a little piece of history when she took third place in the World Ski Championships at Oslo, earning France its first ever ski jumping medal on the global stage. However the achievement left her less than completely satisfied. “I didn’t make the most of my opportunity, and I was disappointed I didn’t do better,” she later said.

Crowned junior world champion at Otepaa, Estonia, in January 2011, Mattel scored her first World Cup win at an Olympic test event on the RusSki Gorki hill in December 2012. “I really like the hill. It will be great to go back and to see the site finished,” she commented afterwards. “This win will give me a lot of confidence too.”

A performing arts student, Mattel has her sights set on nothing less than victory at Sochi 2014 and, thanks to a funding programme, has been able to devote her energies to that challenge full time. As she continues to hone her technique, the intrepid French jumper is intent on making a date with history and securing gold on 11 February 2014.

Discover Women's Ski Jumping, one of the the twelve new winter sports events for Sochi 2014. 

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Goepper sets pace ahead of slopestyle debut

©IOC/Mine Kasapoglu

19/12/2013

Indiana-born freeskier Nick Goepper has set an early benchmark ahead of ski slopestyle’s first appearance at the Olympic Winter Games. The 19 year-old American overcame high winds to win the slopestyle event at the Mountain Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado (USA) on Sunday, with the 93.00 points he scored in the first of his two runs proving unbeatable despite strong performances from his rivals.

Goepper completed a technically superb run despite competing without poles due to a broken hand. He saw off the challenges of Canadian Alex Beaulieu-Marchand and Australian Russ Henshaw, who finished second and third respectively – while his hotly-tipped compatriots, Bobby Brown, Tom Wallisch and Alex Schlopy, came fourth, fifth and seventh.

The event was the first of five that will determine a hugely talented US team’s Olympic roster for the discipline, and Goepper believes he has taken a giant step towards Sochi.

“I’d say this takes off half the pressure [of making the Olympic team],” he said. “The ideal goal is to get two podiums.”

Devin Logan, from Vermont, won the women’s event – but the most notable achievement was that of compatriot Maggie Voisin, who finished third on her 15th birthday to give herself a strong chance of qualification for Sochi. Remarkably, Voisin meets the US team’s age criteria by just 18 days.

McMorris underlines ‘favourite’ tag

Canada’s Mark McMorris continued his own fine form in Breckenridge, coming out on top in the snowboard slopestyle event.

Like its skiing counterpart, snowboard slopestyle will make its debut at Sochi this February – and 20 year-old McMorris showed why he is hotly tipped for gold by scoring an impressive 97.8 points on his second run, performing a spectacular triple-cork to ensure that he finished 6.80 points ahead of second-placed Sean Thorgren. It was a second tour victory of the season for McMorris, who finished second to Finland’s Roope Tonteri at this year’s World Championships in Stoneham.

The women’s event was won on Friday by American Jamie Anderson, , who convincingly headed off Enna Rukajarvi by 6.60 points.

Surprise as Bretz pips Olympic champion

Greg Bretz pulled off a shock in the snowboard halfpipe competition in Breckenridge, beating two-time Olympic champion Shaun White by a single point on Saturday and staking a strong claim for a place in Sochi. Similarly to the slopestyle competitions, this event formed one of five that will determine the US team’s Olympic selection. Australia’s Torah Bright, a gold medal winner in Vancouver four years ago, was the women’s winner.

The ski halfpipe, another discipline taking its Olympic bow in Sochi, saw David Wise win the men’s event on Saturday, while 20 year-old Maddie Bowman led a US clean sweep in the women’s competition – followed in the rankings by Angeli VanLaanen and Brita Sigourney. It was a particularly promising result for VanLaanen, who only recently returned from a three-year absence from competition after recovering from Lyme disease.

Information on tickets for Sochi 2014 is available here :http://www.olympic.org/news/sochi-2014-olympic-winter-games-tickets/190291

Discover Ski Slopestyle, one of the the twelve new winter sports events for Sochi 2014.

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Steven Holcomb: The Night Train rides again

©Getty Images

20/12/2013

Together with Justin Olsen, Curt Tomasevicz and Steve Langton, Steven Holcomb will be hopping back onto “The Night Train”, as the US quartet look to defend the Olympic four-man bobsleigh title at Sochi 2014.

“Going into Sochi, we’re all now experienced, we’ve all been there,” said Steven Holcomb, the driver of USA 1’s two- and four-man bobs. “We know not only what it takes to be an Olympian, not only what it’s like to be in that pressure of the Olympics, but now we know what it’s like to win.”

Holcomb made a little bit of history at Vancouver 2010, winning the USA’s first gold in the four-man bob since Francis Tyler, Patrick Martin, Edward Rimkus and William D’Amico topped the podium at the 1948 Games in St Moritz.

While Justin Olsen and Curt Tomasevicz will be back in the bob with him to defend the title in Sochi, Steve Mesler has retired, with Steve Langton – Holcomb’s team-mate in the two-man bob –  coming in to replace him.

Describing what Langton brings to the US team, Holcomb said: “The guy’s a freak. He has an unreal vertical jump. He’s incredibly strong. He’s very disciplined and he’s the exact guy to have on your team.” 

Holcomb hails from Park City, Utah, which is also home to his fellow Olympian Ted Ligety, one of the greatest skiers in the world. Both are former pupils of the city’s Winter Sports School, Holcomb having started his winter sports career in Alpine skiing and proving sufficiently gifted to compete at national level. A soldier in Utah’s National Guard through to his honourable discharge in 2006, Holcomb turned his attention to bobsleighing at the end of the 1990s. After developing into one of the finest drivers in the world, he was then diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called keratoconus, a disease that thins the cornea and causes distorted vision.

Seeing the light

Holcomb’s failing eyesight actually enhanced his feel for the movement of the sled, to the extent that it became almost like an extension of his body. He eventually regained full vision in 2008 thanks to a revolutionary surgical procedure, and went on to record a string of victories on the FIBT World Cup circuit and enjoy sustained world championship success, winning the four-man bob titles in 2009 and 2012, the two-man bob in 2012 and the mixed-team event in 2012 and 2013.

At Vancouver 2010 he placed sixth in the two-man with Tomasevicz before unseating Germany’s defending two-time Olympic champion Andre Lange in the four-man, beating the Whistler track record in the first two runs and dominating the third to win with something to spare.

At Sochi 2014 Holcomb will once again be banking on his powers of anticipation and his gift for keeping USA 1, nicknamed The Night Train, on the right line at speeds of over 140kmh and at 4+ G-force.

His objective in Russia is simple: “It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re defending the gold and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go out there and fight tooth and nail. We’re not here to finish second or third. I’ll take second or third but that’s not our goal. Our goal is gold: 100 percent.”

Should he achieve that goal, he will become the first American four-man bob driver to win back-to-back Olympic golds since William Fiske in 1928 and 1932.

Follow Steve Holcomb as he shares the details of the runs that took him and the Night Train crew to Olympic gold:

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Innsbruck’s Olympic legacy “is in the city’s DNA”

20/12/2013

Having hosted the Olympic Winter Games twice, as well as the inaugural edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the Austrian city of Innsbruck is steeped in Olympic history.

According to Peter Bayer, the CEO of the Innsbruck 2012 Winter YOG, the city’s long Olympic tradition means that the Games hold a special place in the hearts of Innsbruck’s residents, who know first-hand about the benefits that hosting the Games can provide to a city.

“Everyone in Innsbruck loves the Olympic Games,” he explains.” People have been born with it in their DNA, so everyone knows about the positive experiences and the positive momentum that the Games can bring.

“For example, after the first Games in 1964, that was when tourism really started to develop in the city because people had seen and learned about Innsbruck during the Games.”

Following the success of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Games, many Innsbruck residents were excited to once again enjoy the Olympic experience in 2012.

“Everyone was enthusiastic about the YOG,” says Bayer. “We even had around 30 volunteers who had been there in 1964 and 1976, who wanted to come back and do it again for 2012 because they said that they’d had the time of their lives and wanted to be part of it again. That’s how the spirit developed in the city as a whole.”

The legacies of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Games also played a key role in shaping the 2012 Winter YOG, which made use of several pre-existing Olympic venues.

“We had 1964 and 1976 and then we were able to really build on the legacy from those two Games with the YOG,” says Bayer. We had one huge advantage, which was that we had nearly all the sporting venues already in place. The only temporary venue we had was the curling venues – all the other facilities were already there and had been regularly used since the Winter Games in 1964 and 1976. They had all been used for World Cups and World Championships, so we also had the people who knew how to run these major events – we didn’t have to bring in any external experts.”

Innsbruck 2012 also created its own legacy with the construction of the Youth Olympic Village, which has since provided affordable homes to families on low incomes.

“Today there are around 400 families living there,” says Bayer. “It wouldn’t have been built with the Youth Olympic Games. The land was supposed to be sold, but when we won the right to host the Games, the government awarded the land to the city of Innsbruck in order to build the village.”

Future generations in Innsbruck will also benefit from the establishment of a Nordic centre and a jumping hill in Seefeld, as well as a new ski-cross track and freestyle-course in Kühtai, which were all built for Innsbruck 2012.

“That whole area is now being used by our grassroots development programmes for young athletes in ski jumping, biathlon and Nordic combined,” says Bayer. “Kids are training there regularly and they have also held World Cup events. Seefeld is also applying to host the 2019 Nordic Combined World Championships. All the investment was made with a long-term vision behind it, which was also the case with the freestyle park in Kuhtai.”

With Innsbruck set to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Winter Games in February next year, Bayer believes the city’s Olympic spirit has never been stronger.

“By delivering the Games in the way we did, which was based on the history we already had, the whole Olympic spirit has not only been reawakened in Innsbruck, but also increased,” he says. “Now, lots of people would love to see the Winter Games return to Innsbruck again.”