2014 Sochi Winter Paralympic Games
Author: Disabled World (DW)
Updated/Revised Date: 2025/03/19
Category Topic: 2014 Sochi Paralympics (Publications Database)
Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Subtopics
Synopsis: The 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were held in Sochi, Russia from Feb. 7 to March 16. The 2014 Winter Paralympics, the eleventh Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Introduction
The 2014 Winter Paralympics, the eleventh Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), held in Sochi, Russia from 7-16 March 2014.
Main Document
The 2014 Winter Olympics were held in both the city of Sochi and the mountains, one hour's drive away. Set between the golden shores of the Black Sea and the soaring snow-capped Caucasus Mountains, Sochi offers visitors a unique taste of coastal and mountain living, all with a distinct Russian flavor. Sochi is a treasure among winter sport enthusiasts, who return every year to explore its pristine alpine valleys and skiing trails.
Sochi is a multicultural city of 400,000 inhabitants, representing more than 100 nationalities. Often referred to as the Russian Riviera, Sochi has a rich heritage as the nation's major Black Sea port city, resort destination and a prominent cultural center.
The Alpine sports venues are located about an hour from the center of Sochi around Krasnaya Polyana. Currently, they are linked by a single two-lane road with several tunnels, but soon a superhighway will cut the journey time and the railway will take the strain.
The host city, Sochi, Russia, was elected on July 4, 2007, during the 119th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Guatemala City, Guatemala. 2014 will be the first time Russia has hosted the Paralympics.
The composition of the Sochi 2014 Management, its regulations as well as the composition of the Supervisory Board were approved by the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport, Excellence in Sports, and the Preparation and Execution of the 2014 XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games.
The dates for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games were:
- XXII Olympic Winter Games - Friday 7, February 2014 - Sunday, 23 February 2014
- XI Paralympic Winter Games - Friday, 7 March 2014 - Sunday, 16 March 2014
Even before Russia hosts its first-ever Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 helped to open up the country's culture, etiquette, and business practices.
More than 150 IOC specialists and international experts specializing in intercultural collaboration met at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) staged a special seminar on the history and culture of the nation hosting the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The President and CEO of Sochi 2014, Dmitry Chernyshenko, presented a detailed report about all activities the Organizing Committee undertook in 2008, he also spoke about plans and key projects that will be implemented in 2009. In his speech, he said:
"During the first year of the Organizing Committee's work we not only followed all the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), based on the experience of the previous Games, but also developed and implemented innovative solutions that will lead to an unprecedented legacy for the Olympic Movement. We have already commenced work on Sochi 2014's 36 functional areas, and in 2009 we will launch 300 new projects. This exceeds the IOC's expectations."
During the meeting, Dmitry Mosin, the Sochi 2014 Vice President of strategic development, spoke about Sochi's unique geographic and cultural nuances, the corporate culture of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and the project management structure for Russia's national priority project. These type of seminars allow Sochi 2014 to build stronger bonds with the members of the Olympic Movement and help Winter Games organizers to answer questions about Russia and dispel some myths about the world's largest country.
Over 4 km of new Olympic railway line are now in operation between the Matsesta and Khosta districts of Sochi. A further 3.2 km of line is due to be constructed during 2009 on the route, which will run 127 suburban trains per day during the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games - equating to one every 6-8 minutes.
The Olympic line forms part of a program of railway infrastructure reinforcement across Sochi - between the areas of Tuapse and Adler. A 15 billion ruble investment (over US$458 million), it will bring greatly enhanced passenger and cargo capacity by 2011, three years before Sochi 2014.