Book lists Sochi’s Olympic advantages

The official book detailing Russia’s Winter Olympic bid, has been unveiled in Moscow. The Black Sea resort of Sochi is competing against South Korea’s Pyongchang and Austria’s Salzburg to host the 2014 games.

At a ceremony in Moscow, bid officials unveiled the book that they hope will finally bring the 2014 games to Sochi after two previous attempts. It contains detailed information about the  resort town and the planned Olympic complex, as well as 550 guarantees that the bid committee have pledged to fulfil by the time the games begin.

Sochi failed to land the Olympics in both 1998 and 2002 largely due to its poor Soviet-era infrastructure. But the government has pledged to rectify that this time around. Around $US 8 BLN of federal funding is being ploughed into redeveloping the area, with extra sums supplied by some of Russia's richest private investors.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov says one of Sochi’s top selling points will be the proximity of all its venues.

“Our plan includes eleven brand new winter sports venues in two clusters less than 40 minutes apart. The coastal clusters will include an Olympic park located only 10 minutes away from Sochi international airport. For the first time in winter Olympic games history, our Olympic park will include all ice venues and facilities within walking distance of each other,” he announced.

Getting to Sochi will also become easier from next month, when a new terminal opens at the city’s international airport. The new facility is designed to accommodate aircraft of any size.

The head of Russia’s Winter Olympic committee has said the final blueprints for the bid will be ready by next month, when the International Olympic committee pay their last visit to Sochi. It’s the city’s final chance to make an impression before the official decision is made in Guatemala this July.