KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Athlete Role Model Eve Muirhead talks YOG DNA after winning bronze in Sochi

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21/02/2014

Great Britain's skip Eve Muirhead lived her Olympic dream yesterday as she led her curling quartet to win the bronze in women's curling at Sochi. Young Reporter Sonali Prasad caught up with Youth Olympic Games Athlete Role Model after her podium finish.

Congratulations! You've been eagerly awaiting this medal around your neck. How does it feel?Eve: Yes it's long overdue, I have worked hard for this day. It was a close match but when I won the bronze, I could not help tears falling down my face. This is a magical moment.
With curling so popular back home, how did you deal with the pressure?Eve: The pressure is there but it's good for us. We have been able to medal for our country and live up to their expectations. It gives me happiness that so many people back home are supporting us
You are the Athlete Role Model for the Youth Olympic Games and your younger brother even participated in the YOG in Innsbruck in 2012. What does the YOG mean to you?Eve: My role as an Athlete Role Model is to share my experiences with the upcoming athletes. I get to share their emotions, dreams and aspirations and, believe it or not, that inspires me. The Youth Olympic Games are special, unlike a junior championships; they have been successful in creating an identity of their own. They are fresh, they are full of spirit and value and they are fun!
Given my sport, everybody thinks it's an old man's sport. But times are changing, and the YOG has brought in much young blood to this sport. When Thomas represented
Team GB in Innsbruck at the YOG, I was a proud sister and I knew that the level of competition would be no less there. The young ones are really talented.
There are many “YOGgies” winning medals here in Sochi; they're even giving some tough competition to the more established Olympic champions! How do you feel about them being here?
Eve: The purpose of the YOG is to give young people a taste of what the Olympics will be like. I am so happy to see so many of them making it to the big stage in Sochi.
They not only make it here, but they are doing so well that are dethroning some really experienced Olympians! It's fantastic! Sport is always fun when it is youthful and energetic.
Do you have any favourites that you have been following?
Eve: It has to be Katie Summerhayes (ski slopestyle). She's a lovely little thing. I followed her competition and she put up a brilliant show.
The next edition of the YOG is in Nanjing in August this year, followed by Lillehammer in 2016. Any message to the budding aspirants?Eve: Just go for it! This will be your one chance to make it big; your one chance to live whatever you only see on TV. All the best! Stay true to the Olympic spirit; be a YOGgie at heart; and enjoy yourself!

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Youth Olympic Games skater Adelina Sotnikova crowned as Ice Queen

©Anna Konovalova / IOC

21/02/2014

It was a star-studded night when the world's best figure skaters descended upon the Iceberg Skating Palace at Sochi 2014 for the women's figure skating final. Youth Olympic Games athlete Adelina Sotnikova took home the gold for Russia in a surprise performance dethroning the best of the best, including defending champion Yuna Kim.

Sotnikova could not control her emotions as she read her final scores, ensuring her a golden finish.
“This is still a dream for me, I can't express how this feels, it is a dream, it is a dream.”
Sotnikova finished with a total score of 224.59, almost 5 points ahead of Kim's score.

The “Yoggie”, who participated in Innsbruck in 2012, was thrilled to medal for Russia in her first Olympic Games.

“The Games are in my country and I have finished with gold. It is a very special feeling that will remain with me for the rest of my life.”


Silver medallist and Youth Olympic Games Ambassador Yuna Kim stayed back to hug Sotnikova, congratulating her on her powerful performance.

“She put up a great show. She is very technically sound and she was a tough one to beat tonight. I saw her in Innsbruck where I was present as an Ambassador, and look at how time flies. Tonight, we were fighting for the top spot and she won.”
Other YOG skaters Zijun Li (CHN) and So Youn Park (KOR) put on magnificent performances in the finals.
By Young Reporter Sonali Prasad

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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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