The birth rate has exploded in Sochi thanks to the Winter Olympics.

“The spike in babies shows the power of the Olympics,” says Dimitry Chernyshenko, President and CEO of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee.

Chernyshenko is a proud man. “Sochi is the biggest construction site in the world,” he says with a glint in his eye.

Since winning the vote to host the Games back in 2007, Russia has become the world’s most active nation bidding to stage major sporting events. They’ve won the right to stage Formula One motor racing and the FIFA World Cup of soccer in 2018.

“It is a deliberate strategy by our leaders. Redevelopment of our country by holding big sporting events is key to our economic development.”

Billions of dollars are being spent modernising the Black Sea city of Sochi which until now has been a summer holiday destination for Russians. They have carved a ski resort out of a wilderness to make it a year round resort.

To do that they are building new roads, bridges, a high speed train line, hotels, hospitals and schools – 560,000 jobs have been created in the region.

They will be the legacy of the Sochi Winter Olympics for all those babies to enjoy in the years to come.

There will be no white elephants in Sochi. The giant main press centre and the international broadcast centre will become a shopping mall at the completion of the Games.

The big hotel chains have come to town. They are part of the boom. The latest Radisson Hotel threw open its doors last night with a massive party complete with ABBA impersonators.

“Mamma Mia,” seems very appropriate for what is happening in Sochi.

Mike Tancred in Sochi
AOC