If China continues to breath fire globally, what will happen to Putin's Sochi 2014?

Winning the right (click here) to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games was so important to Russia, and to Vladimir Putin personally, that the Russian president himself led the country's final, formal presentation before the International Olympic Committee in Guatemala City on July 4. Rare for him, he even made his address in English, with finishing remarks in French.

That involvement clearly paid off, as the Black Sea resort of Sochi beat out Pyeongchang, South Korea, in a second round of secret balloting after Salzburg, Austria was eliminated in the first....

This is the Sochi Polar Bear.  It is cute.  I like it already.

Sochi 2014 launch VolunTour campaign in volunteer recruitment drive  (click here)

The launch of the project comes a day before the process to recruit 25,000 volunteers from across Russia for Sochi 2014 gets underway, when candidates can register on the website.

The campaign is being carried out online using banners, viral projects and other promotional tools such as social networking.

Outdoor advertising is also being used in 14 regions across Russia as Sochi 2014 looks to bring young people with a proactive attitude to volunteer in the black sea resort during the Games.

The advertising campaign will also inform the public of the work volunteers do through humour, as well as looking to involve other regions in Russia so that the whole of the country feels a part of Sochi 2014....


Russia needs to line up Sochi advertisers, if it hasn't already.  The global community came together for the Chinese Olympics, it would be disappointing if China didn't join all of us again in a spirit of peace.


Russian official: Sochi projects delayed (click title to entry - thank you)
Updated: January 15, 2012, 5:40 PM ET

INNSBRUCK, Austria -- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak acknowledged Sunday that more than 70 construction projects for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games are behind schedule but denied the Olympics would be affected.

Kozak said during a visit to the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck that the venues in question are almost ready and that only formalities were causing the delays.

"They are not major delays," he said through a translator. "All in all, there are 400 venues that have to be constructed and 70 of them isn't such a huge delay. Basically, all these venues are built. The delays are related to some paperwork.

"In the end, I think we'll finish everything in time. Speaking about the infrastructure, we don't have any concern whatsoever. My main concern is the success of our Russian sportsmen. It's going to be a huge regret if our own sportsmen don't perform to their best."

The International Olympic Committee warned Russian officials two years ago that construction delays could threaten their ambitious plans for the 2014 Games, which included building all new facilities.

However, IOC's coordination commission for Sochi has since said the construction of venues had been proceeding at an impressive pace....