KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Sochi 2014’s mountain venues to provide sport and tourism legacies

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21/02/2014

Each of the venues in Sochi 2014’s “Mountain Cluster” is set to provide long-term sporting and tourism legacies once the Winter Games have finished. Four of the five venues, which are all nestled amid the spectacular peaks of the Caucasus, will become snow sport resorts, offering accommodation as well as world-class snow sport facilities.

They are the RusSki Gorki Jumping Centre, home to ski jumping and Nordic combined, the Rosa Khutor Alpine Centre, the venue for Alpine skiing, the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, which hosts freestyle skiing and snowboarding, and the Laura Cross Country Ski and Biathlon Centre, which is on the other side of the valley to the Alpine events.

The Sanki Sliding Centre, meanwhile, which has hosted bobsleigh, skeleton and luge events during the Sochi Games, will remain a training and competition venue, while the Gorki Media Centre will host the G8 Summit in June and the Athletes’ Village will be converted into tourist accommodation.
As well as providing national training centres for Russia’s next generation of Winter Olympians, each of the sports venues will be capable of hosting other elite sporting events, including World Cups and World Championships, which will bring further economic benefits to the local area.

Infrastructure improvements ahead of the Games, including new roads and a railway line, have also made the mountains far more accessible to visitors, while investments have also been made in cableways, gondolas, new hotels and other tourist accommodation to ensure that Rosa Khutor becomes a thriving resort after the Games.
"We believe that we were quite successful in creating this world-class resort, at least the best in Russia," explains Sergey Belikov, the Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort manager. "We believe that we will be able to provide services to a whole range of tourists."
After the Games, the resort will capable of hosting up to 10,000 people a day and consists of two zones - a lower hospitality zone and an upper zone with 77km of ski tracks and runs.
The hospitality zone features an impressive stretch of hotels, cafes, pubs and restaurants as well as an ice-skating rink along the banks of the Mzymta River.
The resort is due to open on 22 March.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

On the rink of glory - Great Britain and Canada have gold in their sights after reaching men’s curling final

19/02/2014

In the semi-finals of the men’s curling competition, Great Britain scored a dramatic 6-5 win over world champions Sweden, while Canada defeated China by 10-6, to set up a gold medal match at the Ice Cube on 21 February. Sweden and China will meet earlier in the day to determine the destiny of the bronze medal.

As round-robin leaders, Sweden had last stone advantage in the first end against Great Britain, but it was David Murdoch’s rink that opened the scoring with a single point steal in the second end.

The Swedes took a 2-1 lead in the third end, scoring two points when Edin drew with his last stone, before Great Britain levelled again in the fifth.
The two rinks continued to trade points, and by the end of the seventh end were locked together at 3-3.
Great Britain then moved ahead again in the eighth, but their 4-3 lead was then overturned thanks to a two-pointer from the Swedes in the following end.
At 5-4 down, the pressure was on Murdoch in the final end, but he managed to hold his nerve. With a British stone already on the button, he managed to produce a two-pointer with his last stone to give his rink a 6-5 victory.
Great Britain will feature in the final for the first time since they won gold at the inaugural Olympic Winter Games in 1924.

12-year wait
“It’s just incredible,” said Murdoch after reaching the final. “I’ve been trying for 12 years to get an Olympic medal and now we’re going to get one. Words just can’t explain. It was an incredible team display and we’re just so happy to make the gold medal game.”
Sweden skip Niklas Edin offered no excuses. “Obviously we're not feeling good,” he said. “We didn't come up to our normal standard and didn't figure out the ice till the last half of the game and that was too costly.”
Canada's 10-6 win over China in the other semi-final means that their men's teams have reached every Olympic final since curling was reinstated to the Winter Games programme in 1998.
After a cagey start, Canada imposed themselves to take a 4-2 lead into the break. In the sixth end China drew level, but that sparked an inspired retort out of Canada skip Brad Jacobs, who managed a double take-out for three points in the seventh to put his rink 7-4 up.
Mission accomplished
China battled back yet again in the eighth end, when their skip Rui Liu reduced the margin to 7-6. But Jacobs was now on fire, and he scored another three pointer in the ninth to put Canada 10-6 up and finish the scoring.
“It's unbelievable, this was the goal,” said Jacobs. “We wanted to get into the play-offs and then put together a good game in the semi-final, and now we get to play in the final - it's awesome.”
China's Liu was philosophical in defeat: “Although we lost the game we performed at our best,” he said. “Team Canada are so strong and we made some small but crucial mistakes and they led to us losing the game.”

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Norway power to gold in debut mixed relay as Bjørndalen sets new Olympic medal benchmark

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20/02/2014

Norway rounded off a successful day at the 2014 Winter Games for its Nordic athletes by surging to victory in the mixed biathlon relay, taking their tally for the day to three golds. But there was an even more notable landmark for one member of the team as 40-year-old Ole Einar Bjørndalen won his 13th Olympic medal, more than any other athlete in the history of the Winter Games.

Joining Bjørndalen in Norway’s impressive line-up  was  Emil Hegle Svendsen, winner of the men’s mass start a day earlier, while Tora Berger and Tiril Eckhoff raced the two women’s legs.
They combined to deliver a powerhouse display, clocking 1:09:17.0  to finish 32.6 seconds ahead of their nearest rivals, to ensure that the event enjoyed a memorable Olympic debut.
A strong Czech Republic quartet (Veronika Vitkova, Gabriela Soukalova, Jaroslav Soukup, Ondrej Moravec) took silver medal in 1:09:49.6, while a delighted Italian team (Dorothea Wierer, Karin Oberhofer, Dominik Windisch, Lukas Hofer) completed the race in 1:10:15.2, ahead of the well fancied German and Russian collectives to clinch the bronze.
With the men completing skiing legs of 7.5km each, and the women racing over 6km, the event enabled the Norwegians to fully showcase their strength in depth in the biathlon.
Overcoming two errors on her visit to the shooting range, Berger still managed to steer Norway into pole position as she handed over to Eckhoff. She by, contrast delivered a faultless display of marksmanship, but was overtaken during her ski by the leading light of the Czech women’s team Soukalova, who ensured that her team-mate Soukup embarked on the third leg with a fractional advantage over Norway’s Bjørndalen.
The latter made up the deficit with a typically impeccable performance on the range and a strong ski, to, ensure that anchorman Svendsen enjoyed a 43-second advantage going into the final leg.


Svendsen delivered a solid display in the anchor role to ensure a golden finish for Norway.Bjørndalen celebrated his historic 13th medal with characteristic understatement: “It's cool. It's a big thing for me,” he said of his new record.
Meanwhile, Berger added that she had tried not to dwell on the historic importance of the event ahead of the race. “I didn't think about history, I just think it's good to get gold,” she added.
Soukalova summed up the strength of the performance from  Bjørndalen and his compatriots quite simply: “It was impossible to get the better of Norway today,” said the Czech athlete.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Gold again for Humphries and Moyse in the women’s bobsleigh, as Williams makes Olympic history

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19/02/2014

Canada's Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse completed a successful defence of their Olympic women's bobsleigh title, while USA’s Lauryn Williams became just the fifth athlete in history to win medals in both Summer and Winter Games, after she and Elana Mayers claimed silver.

The Canadian pair were trailing 0.23 seconds after the previous day’s first two runs at the Sanki Sliding Centre, but they then delivered two more consistent bursts to clock a combined time of 3 minute 50.61 seconds, finishing 0.1 second ahead of the second-placed USA-1 team. The USA-2 team of Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans won bronze with a time of 3 minutes 51.61 seconds.
“It's really hard to describe my feelings,” said an emotional Humphries, who was keen to pay tribute to the role played by her friends, family and team-mates.
“Sacrifices have been made not only by myself but also my friends, my family. And then Heather has come on board. It's just something we have done together. And it's great.”

Landmark medal
Meanwhile, Williams, who won a silver medal in the women’s 100m at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and more recently was a member of the US 100m relay squad that won gold at London 2012, had completed a successful switch to bobsleigh, serving as brakewoman on the USA-1 sled, piloted by Elana Meyers.
She becomes just the fifth athlete in history, and the third woman to win medals in both the Summer and Winter Games.
The only other athletes to that feat were: Eddie Eagan of the USA, who won a gold in the boxing at the 1920 Summer Games and another in the four-man bobsleigh at the 1932 Winter Games; Jacob Tullin Thams (NOR) who won ski jumping gold in 1924 and yachting silver in 1936; and Christa Luding-Rothenburger (GDR), who won multiple speed skating medals in 1984, 1988 and 1992, to go with a sprint cycling silver in 1988; and Clara Hughes (CAN) who won bronze medals in the road race and time trial in 1996, before claiming another bronze in the 5,000 m speed skating bronze in 2002.
“It's really cool to be here, to be on a podium and to get that silver medal,” said Williams, who was keen to deflect attention from her personal achievement.
“I came here not to make history but to help the USA. And I feel like I did the best I could for it and I'm really excited with our performance and we're happy to be here.”
Missed chances
Meyers and Williams, who led by 0.23 seconds after first two runs, looked to be in with a real chance of gold, but errors on the second day of competition proved costly.
And Meyers was left ruing some missed chances. “Many times we were so close and we could taste it,” she reflected.
“It hurts a little bit. But at the end of the day I'm super-relieved with this medal. I have to deal with this to go back and train even harder for Pyeongchang.”
Meanwhile, Greubel, the pilot of the USA-2 team, was thrilled to win bronze.
“If you've asked me four years ago if I'd be an Olympic medallist I don't think I would believe you,” she said.
“But to cross the finish line and to know that we did it together, it's such an incredible feeling.”

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC Social Media: From Russia with Likes

18/02/2014

A conversation of Olympic proportions is taking place on the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s social media platforms, thanks in large part to a rapidly growing presence in the home country of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Russians are some of the most engaged people in the world when it comes to social media, spending, according to some accounts, over six hours a month on Russian social network VKontakte (VK) alone. And they are loving their first social media Games. Twenty per cent of the 100 million monthly active users on the platform engage with the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, and were responsible for 17 million mentions of the Games on VK during the first week of competition. 
With 2.7 million fans, the IOC's Olympic page on VK has become the most popular official community page in the world among Russian-speaking fans. Thousands of Russians have been cheering for their athletes, and the IOC has been sharing their photos live in the Medals Plaza and at other live sites across Russia. It is the first time that user-generated content has been shared within an Olympic venue. 
“We’re extremely pleased with the numbers,” said IOC Director of Communications Mark Adams. “The IOC’s presence on social media has grown incredibly quickly since the start of Sochi 2014, especially here in Russia, and this is partly due to the rise in mobile use around the world.” 
Olympic Athletes’ Hub
The Olympic Athletes' Hub recorded over 40,000 updates from Olympians, teams and National Olympic Committees in the first week of the Games. Olympians have been engaging in fun and interactive ways by taking photos and sharing them on social media. Over 1,700 photos have been taken at the Games so far and can be viewed on facebook.com/olympics. With 1,500 Sochi 2014 Olympians and over 6,000 Olympians from past Games, the Olympic Athletes' Hub has become the reference point for connecting with athletes in social media. 
The Hub has been receiving great praise from the athletes in Sochi. “The app is awesome,” said US hockey player Brianna Decker. “It is easily accessible and a great way for Olympians to connect with other Olympians and have fans connect with Olympians. It’s also great to have thousands of Olympians involved with this app and know that they are truly who they claim to be.” 
“When we use the Hub we know that these Olympians’ accounts are real and we are certain who we follow is the real deal,” said Norwegian figure skater Anne Line Gjersem, echoing Decker’s comments about the fact that accounts of the Olympians on the Hub are all verified to protect against fakes.  
Facebook, Twitter, Sina Weibo
In the lead-up to the Games, the IOC's Facebook page grew by more than 2 million fans. In the first seven days of the Games the page gained close to 1 million new fans. During the same period, Facebook reported that 24 million people were talking about the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games on its platform. 
The IOC Twitter account, meanwhile, has added 1 hundred thousand new followers since the start of the Games. According to Hootsuite, 6.5 million mentions of the Olympic Games were made on Twitter during the first week of competition. 
In the past 30 days, 1.2 billion impressions have been recorded on IOC-led accounts on Facebook and Twitter. 
There has been great interest surrounding Sochi 2014 in other parts of the world as well. In China, for example, the IOC's Sina Weibo account grew by 849,752 fans, and there were almost 12.5 million mentions of the hashtag sochi2014 during the first week alone. 
The total global fan base of the IOC now stands at 33.9 million subscribers.

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Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org.
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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Sochi Olympians elect Bjørndalen and Wickenheiser to IOC Athletes’ Commission - Record turnout by athletes

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20/02/2014

Ole Einar Bjørndalen from Norway (biathlon) and Hayley Wickenheiser from Canada (ice hockey) have been elected to the Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by their peers at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games for a term of approximately eight years.

A new Olympic record was set by the Sochi athletes after 80.87 per cent of them made their way to the voting booths to cast their votes.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “As one of the founding members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, I very much appreciate the high participation in the vote. It shows the value that athletes place on being part of the decision-making process and helping to shape the future of the Olympic Movement.”
The announcement was made today at the Coastal Olympic Village by IOC Executive Board members Claudia Bokel (also Chairwoman of the IOC Athletes’ Commission) and Anita L. DeFrantz (also Chairwoman of the Election Committee). The election was held over the past 21 days in the three Olympic Villages located in the coastal and the mountain clusters.

Bjørndalen was elected with 1,087 votes, followed by Wickenheiser with 758. The two new members will replace Rebecca Scott and Saku Koivu, who were elected to the Athletes’ Commission at the Turin Games in 2006 for a term of eight years each.
Claudia Bokel said after the announcement: “The athletes are at the heart of the Olympic Games, and our Commission is their voice in all decisions taken by the IOC. During the Games, our Commission members listen to the athletes’ concerns and opinions in all three Olympic Villages.” She added: “We also aim to offer them the best support possible outside the Games, for instance when it comes to questions of career transition with tools like the Athlete Career Programme and the newly launched MOOC. I am sure that our two new colleagues will make an important contribution to our work.” 
On 23 February, Bjørndalen and Wickenheiser will be proposed to the IOC Session for IOC membership. Pending approval, they will then be officially introduced at the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi Games on 23 February.
Some 2,871 athletes were eligible to vote and had nine candidates from the same number of countries to choose from. Votes needed to be cast for two different athletes from two different sports. The candidates had to be presented by their National Olympic Committees, which were required to have their own Athletes’ Commission to select the candidate. In order to be eligible, the candidates had to be 18 years or older on 23 February 2014, have participated either in the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 or in Sochi in 2014, and have never been found guilty of a doping offence during their sports career.

Biographies of all the candidates can be found here.
Background Information
The IOC Athletes’ Commission is currently comprised of 22 members who are past or active Olympians. They are the voice of the athletes within the Olympic Movement and are tasked with defending their interests. As the link between the athletes and the IOC, the Commission members are involved in many key IOC activities, including the process to evaluate candidate cities seeking to host the Olympic Games, the composition of the sports programme for the Games and the fight against doping.

The Athletes’ Commission also oversees the IOC Athlete Career Programme, established in 2005, to facilitate education as well as job opportunities for athletes during and after their sporting careers. The Commission’s chairperson, a position currently held by Claudia Bokel, also sits on the IOC Executive Board.
Learn more about the IOC Athletes’ Commission here.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

         Domracheva wins 15km to claim second biathlon gold

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14/02/2014

Daria Domracheva of Belarus won the women’s individual 15km at the Laura Cross Country & Biathlon Centre to claim her second title at Sochi 2014, following her success in the individual pursuit.

With just one fault on the shooting range, Domracheva completed the course in a time of 43 minutes 19.6 seconds, finishing ahead of Switzerland’s Elisa Gasparin, who took the silver at 1:15.7 and her fellow Belarusian athlete Nadezdha Skardino at 1:38.2, who scooped the bronze.