XXII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES
7 th February to 23 February
The
2014 Winter Olympics, officially
the XXII Olympic Winter Games,
or the 22nd Winter Olympics,
are scheduled to take place from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia, with some events held in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana.
The city of Sochi is
situated on the coast of the Black Sea – close to the state of Georgia. It is
the longest city – about 90 miles along the sea coast and is quite well known
for all its resorts. It will play host to the 22nd Winter Olympiad as well as
the Paralympic Winter Games for the first time in 2014. Construction is under
way to host different events – fifteen major winter sports will consist of over
90 different events. Many new venues are being built in the resort town of
Krasnaya Polyana as well as in the Imeretin Valley.
Selection:
Cities are chosen well in
advance so that they have enough time to put infrastructure in place, to host
the games. Cities usually lobby the IOC to host the games – Sochi was picked
over Guatemala City.
Mascots:
Every Olympiad has a
Mascot which is chosen by popular ballot – this time, there are three. The
Polar Bear, Hare and Leopard were chosen to represent the games as they are
indigenous to the region.
Featured
Disciplines:
Fifteen different events
have been included for the 2014 Winter Olympics. They are as follows:
·
Skating: Figure, Short track and speed skating
·
Skiing: Alpine, Freestyle, Cross country, Nordic
Combined, Snow Barding and Ski Jumping
·
Bob Sleigh and Skeleton
·
Other events include Curling, Hockey, Biathlon
and Luge.
Over a dozen new events
are being added this year. The IOC has approved the inclusion of the following
events in the official program:
·
Figure Skating teams
·
Ski Jumping for Women
·
Biathlon Mixed Relays
·
Luge Team Relays
·
Ski half pipe
·
Slope style skiing and snowboarding
·
Snowboard parallel slalom
