Sochi 2014 will be the Winter Olympics by the sea.

The coastal venues including ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating and curling front onto the water’s edge of the Black Sea.

Media from around the world have toured the coastal cluster and with the Games still 15 months away have found the venues are almost finished and ready to start hosting test events early next year.

The engineer at the speed skating venue is a very happy man. He’s created his first layer of ice on the surface.

“It is a beautiful night to lay some ice,” he said. “A beautiful night, I am very happy.”

Ice Hockey dominates the park with two venues dedicated to hockey and another just for training purposes. Russia desperately want to win the gold medal at their home Games and stop the domination of the Canadians and the Americans.

The main stadium will host the Opening and Closing ceremonies. After the Games it will be used regularly for concerts and it will be one of the venues for the Soccer World Cup in 2018.

The Olympic Village is part of the Coastal cluster. Athletes will have views over the water from their rooms.

The biggest challenge facing the organisers appears the construction of new highways and roads. Traffic in Sochi is chaotic and it is extremely dusty as road gangs work day and night to get the project finished.

As part of a massive investment by the Russians the Main Media Centre and the International Broadcast Centre which will house the world’s media are also nearing completion.

At this point Sochi is the fastest changing landscape in Europe.

Mike Tancred
AOC Media Director
Sochi, Russia