International Olympic Committee : News

Going for Gold in Sochi: Shelley Rudman

5/11/2013 6:00:00 PM

I joined Twitter after the 2010 Olympic Winter Games so that I can stay in touch with people who follow the sport as well as family and friends. Now I can quickly update everybody who is interested and post any photos without having to send countless text messages and emails.

When I first get on a track, I either click with it straight away or find it really hard to connect with. You need to be sliding with form, ride a little luck and you have to be quick to understand a track. I am very excited to be going to Russia for the first time. I have been learning some basic Russian so that I can speak with the locals – and the Russian sliders on the circuit are helping me.

On race day you need to be on high alert, thinking before you hit the curves, not 100th of a second later. It becomes even harder if you take a few knocks. I try to listen to my body and take an extra rest day if need be so that I am as mentally sharp as I can be.

For the five-month season, most weeks are race weeks. We’ll arrive at a venue and have three training days with two runs per day. The day after is competition day with two runs. Within that competition week I’ll have two to three gym sessions.

I only weigh around 54kg, which means I have to use the maximum sled weight, 35kg, to try and make up weight on the other girls, who mostly push a 28kg sled.

My partner [GB skeleton athlete Kristan Bromley] and I have to come home from the track or the gym and be mum and dad so it’s straight into parent mode. Our daughter Ella is five years old and she comes on
tour with us. When you get home it doesn’t matter how your day was, she is always there and ready to cuddle you and play.

I like to listen to music the night before a race when I am preparing my sled but never during my build-up routine as you can miss vital announcements that might tell you key information to help you race.

I struggle to keep my head up in the big G-curves so I often rest my head on the ice – I have to make sure I am not surprised by anything.

It would be great to go to my third Olympic Games and come away with a medal. There are so many factors that will come into play in the Olympic season. I can’t take anything for granted and will have to work hard to stay injury and illness free. I have a super-fast metabolism so I lose weight fast. I am not on a high-cardio workout programme. I have to get as many carbohydrates on board as possible and keep my sessions
heavily strength based.

My sprint starts are probably the weakest element of my overall performance. We train with lots of power-based activity, weightlifting, core stability work and explosive, short sprints. We’ll focus on that from March until October. Once a month, I’ll have a push on the ice and try to hone my technique.

The season is long and gruelling with only short breaks. It is difficult to find time to let those niggles heal, or to rest and recover. To cope with the intensity of the winter period, you have to ensure you prepare yourself in the summer to be as robust as possible. Stretching and maintenance physiotherapy keeps injury at bay during the season.

Watch Shelley Rudman win her medal in Turin 2006:

Sochi successfully hosts IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship

5/2/2013 11:30:00 AM

The 10-day tournament featured two groups of five teams, with matches being played at the Bolshoi Ice Dome and the Shayba Arena, both of which will host ice hockey matches during the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

The Canadian team triumphed over the United States in the gold-medal match, winning 3-2 in front of more than 6,000 fans at the Bolshoi Ice Dome.

Laurent Dauphin had given Canada the lead during the first period, before Connor Clifton and Mike McCarron struck back to put the USA 2-1 in front midway through the second period. Madison Bowey then levelled the match before team-mate Frédérik Gauthier secured gold for the Canadians.

“Just indescribable, a great feeling. I don't know what to say. Amazing,” said Gauthier after the match. “One of the best feelings in the world.”

Throughout the tournament, players had been praising the facilities in Sochi, which have been built especially for next year’s Winter Games.

“The arena is excellent, the conditions are outstanding,” said Russian forward Ruzal Galeyev. “The ice is good, the dressing rooms are comfortable.”

“It’s a very good arena, very nice, with good ice – everything is good,” added Swedish forward Andre Burakowski. “I think that Russia has done a very good job!”

The players also paid tribute to the support they received in both the Bolshoi Ice Dome and the Shayba Arena.

“The rink feels good and the atmosphere is great,” said Finalnd’s Kasperi Kapanen. “I guess you can say that it feels like the Olympic spirit is here.”

“We’ve been welcomed really nicely here,” added Canada’s Nicholas Baptiste. “It’s going to be a great Winter Games here, it will bring much for the city, and I am sure everyone will be excited.”

Rene Fasel, IOC member and President of the International Ice Hockey Federation, also praised Sochi’s facilities following the tournament.

“We have two very good arenas,” he said. “I like especially the small one; it is a typical hockey arena. For sure, the big arena, the Bolshoi, is a typical multi-purpose arena. It’s very nice, very convenient, big, with a lot of space and very good dressing rooms.”

Sochi 2014 Technology Lab now fully operational

4/30/2013 8:00:00 AM

The Technology Lab is where the IT systems for every sports event and venue will be put through a series of tests. Its opening marks the launch of more than 100,000 hours of IT testing, which will include two technical rehearsals during which up to 500 different scenarios will be tested to ensure that the Atos Business Technologists, technology and procedures are ready to respond to any situation that could arise during the Games.

Patrick Adiba, CEO Iberia, Major Events and Olympic Games at Atos, said: “We are confident that the technology for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games is on track. The opening of the Technology Lab and the start of the IT testing marks a major milestone in our project plan and our whole team is committed to delivering our personal best to ensure a successful Games in 2014.”

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will mark the first time that myInfo+ – a service used by print and broadcast media to check information including the competition schedule, medal ranking, weather reports and news feeds – will be available on all mobile devices. Broadcasters – both in Sochi and remotely around the world – will also have access to the Commentator Information System, which provides the latest competition information and scores.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, President, Sochi 2014, said: “We are committed to the Sochi 2014 Winter Games being the most digital Games ever and are delighted to be working with Worldwide IT Partner of the IOC – Atos. It is invaluable to be able to draw on the knowledge that Atos brings from its experience of delivering six previous Games.”

The Atos team has been in Russia since June 2010, first based in Moscow before moving to Sochi in May 2012. The team now comprises around 70 business technologists and has already delivered the volunteer portal, which is used to manage and process all the applications for the 25,000 volunteer roles.

Between now and the start of the Games, Atos will test and run the technology infrastructure and systems that will make the Games happen. This includes the solution that will deliver the results to the world’s media in 0.3 seconds and the systems to issue 220,000 accreditations that allow entry to the venues and also serve as a visa for athletes, media, sponsor and officials to enter the Russian Federation. By the time the Games arrive, Atos will manage the deployment of 900 servers, 1,000 network and security devices and 6,500 computers.

Panasonic begin installing AV equipment at Sochi venues

4/29/2013 9:30:00 AM

The company is supplying a wide array of AV solutions to the Olympic venues, including LED Large Screen Display Systems, flat screen TVs, digital video cameras, DVD recorders and other professional audio/video equipment.

Panasonic’s technology plays a vital role in delivering the sights, sounds and unique excitement of the Olympic Games from the field of play to the spectators through its large on-site video screens and professional audio systems, and to people around the world through broadcasting with its digital broadcast equipment.

One of Panasonic’s LED Large Screen Display Systems has already been installed at the Iceberg Skating Palace, where figure skating events will be held during the Games, where it will showcase the expressions and performances of the athletes up close.

“The large screen has been delivered by Panasonic and it will be used for all events held during the Games,” explains Rushan Bogautdinov, Olympic Project Leader at Panasonic Russia. “Our team in Russia and the system integrators worked very closely to finish setting up the display. Cutting edge technology like this will help share the passion and excitement of the events held in the arena in a different way.”

Panasonic’s cutting-edge equipment has also been installed at venues in the Mountain Cluster, such as the Sanki Sliding Centre, where bobsleigh, skeleton and luge events will be held.

“Panasonic has delivered more than 200 devices to this venue, including security cameras, LED Large Screen Display Systems and professional TV systems,” explains Andrey Senik, Senior Engineer at Panasonic Russia. “Over 3,500 security cameras have also been installed at the various Olympic venues. They will provide unparalleled security during the Games.”

In the coming months, Panasonic will continue to support the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee through the installation and operation of cutting-edge AV solutions at each of the Olympic venues.

Sochi 2014: The final countdown

4/26/2013 8:30:00 AM

Sochi has long been Russia’s most popular holiday resort, with visitors drawn to the warm weather and palm-fringed avenues of a city that stands as far south as Nice on the French Riviera. But following an astonishing seven-year transformation, Sochi is about to explode onto the global stage when it hosts an event more traditionally associated with ice, snow and temperatures at the other end of the scale – that is, the Olympic Winter Games.

A place people can visit all year round

Speaking to the world’s press in November last year, Sochi’s mayor, Anatoly Pakhomov, announced: “The key achievement of the Sochi Winter Games will be that Sochi is no longer regarded simply as a summer resort, but as a place people can visit all year round. Sochi has 300 days of sunshine a year. It has a unique sub-tropical climate, so in March and April you can go skiing there and still find people sunbathing on the coast. It can be 10 or 15 degrees [Celsius] below freezing in Krasnaya Polyana and 15 degrees on the coastline.”

Greater Sochi is situated on the south-west tip of Russia and on the northern shore of the Black Sea, along 145km of the coastline close to the Caucasus Mountains, and its population is around 400,000. “This is really a unique place,” Pakhomov added. “Sochi has always had the capacity to be an all-round resort, not just the most popular Russian summer resort. We never had the infrastructure or the conditions to make it happen before – but the Winter Games have prompted us to take that opportunity.”

A world-class winter sports destination

That opportunity has required considerable efforts by the organisers. But this mammoth work will soon be complete, with the creation of a world-class winter sports destination. Sochi Olympic Park is a coastal cluster of indoor venues so compact that each is no more than a few minutes stroll from another, while the world’s finest winter sports athletes will also be able to compete at outstanding  Alpine venues approximately 40km inland, deep in the densely wooded mountains of Krasnaya Polyana.

Sochi Olympic Park will contain all the ice venues – the Bolshoi Ice Palace and the Shayba Arena, which will host ice hockey, the Ice Cube Curling Centre, the Adler Arena (speed skating), the Iceberg Skating Palace (figure skating and short track speed skating) – as well as the Fisht Olympic Stadium, the main Olympic Village and the International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre. Skiing and sliding sports will take place in the mountain cluster, which is also very compact, with an average distance of 4km between the mountain sub-village and the venues.

Many venues have already hosted major events

Travelling to inspect the Olympic site in November as part of the World Press Briefing, it was possible to get a sense of the scale and intensity of the enterprise. As our bus from the hotel in Krasnaya Polyana traversed the winding route to the coast, we saw first-hand the amount of work that has gone in to transforming the region – both in the mountains and in the city of Sochi itself, just a few hundred metres away from the rolling, olive green water of the Black Sea.

On day two, as we made the shorter journey up to the Alpine venues, clouds had covered the mountaintops, drifting down almost to ground level, and the rain sheeted down. Despite the adverse conditions, the building operation continued. Everything will have to be ready for the Games and judging by the state of the venues at that stage, there was no danger of that not being the case.

Many of the venues have already hosted major events, including the Iceberg Skating Palace – all icy blue and white, with the lines of the building flowing like water – which staged the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Final in December. Facilities for the ice hockey are – like every other venue at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games – purpose-built and expansive. The biggest matches will be played in the Bolshoi Ice Palace, whose vast white roof was populated on our visit by the tiny figures of workers resembling mountaineers edging up an ice sheet.

A new rail metro system

Naturally, Sochi airport itself was still undergoing construction in November as work was underway on a new terminal. During Games-time, arrivals will be linked via a new rail metro system to the coastal and Alpine clusters, including the Olympic and media villages.

“We have very thoroughly considered the question of transport,” said Pakhomov. “We are building a new railway, three new highways, eight new road junctions. The main route between the coast and the Alpine cluster is 47km long, 30km of which is underground.”

Sochi 2014 will also feature 12 new events, including the debut of women’s ski jumping. The other additions are ski halfpipe (men and women’s), a figure skating team event, a mixed relay in biathlon, a team relay in the luge, snowboard parallel special slalom (men and women’s), and snowboard slopestyle and skiing slopestyle (men and women’s) events – in which athletes will do tricks while heading down a course featuring rails, big jumps and bumps. IOC President Jacques Rogge observed of the latter: “Such events provide great entertainment for the spectators and add further youthful appeal.”

By the end of 2012, the Sochi Volunteer Programme had received more than 150,000 applications, and 80 per cent of the places had been filled. Several hundred volunteers have already had experience of what will be required of them by serving as Games Makers at the London 2012 Olympic Games. While the legacy of any successful Games is often intangible, there are concrete plans for the future use of all the Sochi venues in order for it to become a future centre for sport, both in the Alpine and coastal hubs.

The longest Torch Relay in Olympic Winter Games history

Meanwhile, the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee is planning a Torch Relay that will be the longest in Olympic Winter Games history. Due to start in Russia on 7 October 2013, it will cover 65,000km of Russian soil, carried by around 14,000 Torchbearers over 123 days. It is a fitting image for the scope of Sochi’s – and Russia’s – ambition.

Sochi 2014: A lasting resort

4/25/2013 11:06:00 AM

While the eyes of the world will be on Sochi in less than a year’s time, many are already looking even further ahead, at the long-term benefits of hosting the Olympic Winter Games. Russia hopes that Sochi 2014 will not only turn the city on the Black Sea into a world-class resort but also help create a new social environment and inspire a future generation of champions.

(Copyright: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

Holding the Winter Games in the summer resort, better known for sunbathing than for cross country skiing or snowboarding, received support from Russian President Vladimir Putin to showcase the country’s ability to organise major sporting events.

Sochi was not widely known outside of Russia before the city won the right to host the Games at the IOC Session in July 2007. Even after Sochi had won the bid, some critics cast doubt over its ability to stage a successful Games because it had to build almost all the infrastructure, including roads, hotels, a major airport and sporting venues, from scratch.

Now, with just under a year remaining before the Olympic cauldron is lit at the 40,000-seat Fisht Stadium, most of the venues in both the coastal and mountain clusters are nearly completed. In addition to the main Olympic stadium, a coastal cluster, located in the Olympic Park near the city centre, will house arenas for ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating and curling, as well as the Main Media Centre and International Broadcast Centre.

The mountain cluster

The mountain cluster, located in Krasnaya Polyana, approximately 40km from Sochi, will stage all the ski and snowboard events, cross country skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, luge and ski jumping. “Our task is not only to deliver an innovative Olympic Winter Games, but also to build a city of the future that sets a precedent for the whole of Russia,” said Sochi 2014 President and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko.

Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov was also confident the Games would leave a long-lasting legacy on his city. “For our city, the Project Sochi 2014 is not only a chance to host the Olympic Winter Games but more importantly a great impetus to revive and rebuild the whole urban infrastructure,” he said. “After the completion of the Games, Sochi will become a year-round world-class resort.”

Additional benefits for the Sochi region

The Games should also bring other benefits to the Sochi region. The federal government is helping the construction of special reservoirs for the biological waste and water purification that, according to experts, will prevent pollution and improve the environmental situation around Sochi, where many houses, just like in many other Russian cities, do not have basic sewage facilities or working plumbing. The Games have also helped create 560,000 new jobs, while the Olympic hosts are drafting nearly 25,000 volunteers to help the Organising Committee, creating a whole new volunteering culture in Russia. “The response for volunteers has been overwhelming as we have received more than 150,000 applications from all across Russia as well as abroad,” said Chernyshenko. “It has become a very competitive programme, almost like getting into a prestigious university.”

“When Sochi began the bidding process in 2005, the concept of volunteering simply did not exist in Russia,” he said. “Now, the volunteer movement is thriving, with a quarter of a million Russians regularly participating in volunteer activity. In the 2012 World Giving Index, for the first time ever, Russia was listed as one of the top ten countries for time spent volunteering, with 21 million volunteers. “Most importantly, tens of thousands of generous people will have the opportunity to become a part of the Sochi 2014 Games as volunteers. This will be an invaluable experience for them, and one that they will be able to pass on to the future generation of volunteers in Russia.”

A much-improved infrastructure

Just like the volunteering, the Games have also opened new frontiers for disabled people in the region, with all the Olympic venues, as well as more than 50 per cent of the Sochi streets, being made accessible for people with disabilities. Sochi’s much-improved infrastructure will allow the city to stage several major international events, including hosting the country’s first Formula One Grand Prix in 2014, the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Sochi also plans to hold a major annual cycling race, called the Tour of Russia, starting from 2014. The race – a smaller version of the famous Tour de France three-week marathon – will start in St Petersburg, continue to Moscow, before the riders fly to Sochi for another three or four days climbing through the Caucasus mountains.

In addition to already existing facilities, the Russian government will spend nearly USD 200 million to build a motor racing circuit around the Olympic Park after signing a seven-year deal with Formula One commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone. “It [Formula One] fits perfectly with the Winter Games as it could use all the hotels and other infrastructure that would be built here by 2014,” President Putin said during the signing ceremony in 2010.

With improved infrastructure, new facilities and major events such as the F1 Grand Prix and the FIFA World Cup turning Sochi into a year-round resort destination, it’s clear that the benefits of the 2014 Winter Games will be felt long after the Olympic flame is extinguished.

A day in the life of Swiss biathlete Aita Gasparin

4/19/2013 3:28:00 PM

In our latest video, Youth Olympic Games graduate and rising biathlon star Aita Gasparin gives us a glimpse into her sport, which combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

From testing her skis, practising at the shooting range to checking the weather conditions and completing her sprint warm-ups, the Swiss athlete goes through the motions with us as she shows us exactly how she prepares for a big competition.

The 19 year-old also shared with us her passion for competing and the valuable advice her coach gave her: to always smile!

And we are sure this is not the last we will see from Aita. Now a regular on the elite senior circuit, the rising star has her sights set on competing at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games next year as part of a relay team, alongside her sisters.

So join us in wishing the best of to Aita who’s working hard to achieve her goals, all with a smile!

Alpine skier and Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal talks to the YOG team on what it takes to be the best!

4/16/2013 4:09:00 PM

From his first pair of skis aged three to overall World Champion and Olympian, the 30 year-old reminisces on the excitement of his first race as a kid to taking part in his first Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver 2010, where he walked away with gold, silver and bronze medals.

As Aksel prepares for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, he recounts the pride of Norway when it hosted the Lillehammer 1994 Olympic Winter Games and looks forward to the next Winter Youth Olympic Games set to take place in Lillehammer in 2016, which, he thinks, are “the perfect teaser” to reignite passions and inspire the next generation of athletes.

To see what Aksel has to say about his journey and his advice on being the best in your sport, check out our latest video!

‘Cool’ Adler Arena set to sizzle during Sochi 2014

4/3/2013 4:24:00 PM

The newly-built venue features two competition tracks and one training track, all designed to provide the best possible performance for athletes, with optimal micro-climatic conditions to ensure a world-class ice surface.

Russia’s two-time Olympic speed skating medallist Ivan Skobrev is already looking forward to competing on the track during Sochi 2014.

"Cool ice, cool palace. I really loved everything,” said the 2011 all-round world champion. “I can hardly wait for the Olympic events.”

Turin 2006 speed skating gold medallist Svetlana Zhurova has also been impressed by the 8,000-seat venue, which hosted the 2013 ISU World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships from 21-25 March.

"I think the Adler Arena in the Olympic Park is one of the most beautiful and, most importantly, well designed technical and functional venues,” said the four-time Olympian, who won the women’s 500m in Turin in 2006. “I am sure that fans and athletes alike will love the design and internal structure of the skating centre. I remember that during the Sochi 2014 bid, I commented positively on the architectural concept of the stadium, which I really liked; and it's really wonderful that this venue is already now hosting big events!”

The Adler Arena is situated in the Coastal Cluster of venues, within Sochi’s Olympic Park. It sits alongside the Bolshoi Ice Dome and the Shayba Arena, which will host ice hockey, the Ice Cube Curling Centre, Iceberg Skating Palace and the Fisht Olympic Stadium, which will stage the Opening and Closing Ceremony. After the Games, the venue will be converted into a trade and exhibition centre, providing a lasting legacy for Sochi.

OMEGA introduces Sochi 2014 timekeeping equipment

3/28/2013 5:00:00 PM

The OMEGA timekeeping system includes an electronic start system, light-sensitive devices at the finish line and photo-finish cameras capable of taking 2,000 shots per second. Competitors will also wear lightweight transponders on their legs, making it possible for OMEGA to measure, record and display the intermediate times and rankings of the participating athletes while the races are taking place.

The electronic starting system, which was first introduced by OMEGA for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, is composed of a flashgun and a sound generation box.

“With the new device, when the starter presses its trigger, three things happen simultaneously: a sound is ‘played’, a light flash is emitted and a start pulse is given to the timing device,” explains Peter Hürzeler, OMEGA Timing Board Member. “By pressing the trigger a second time within two seconds, the false start will be audibly signalled.”

At the end of the race, the skates of each competitor trigger highly sensitive photoelectric cells as they cross the line, which are used to determine the finishing times of each athlete. The OMEGA Scan ‘O’ Vision photo-finish camera, which was first introduced for Vancouver 2010, is also used to determine the official finishing times of the competitors in a race.

“The combined use of photoelectric cell technology and photo-finish images changed sports timekeeping forever,” adds Hürzeler. “During the speed skating events, as soon as a competitor’s skate crosses the finish line, the running times on the scoreboard and television superimpositions are stopped – but ultimately it is the photo-finish camera that has measured and captured the result that will be deemed official.”