Author: VK
Sports facilities in Krasnaya Polyana constructed for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 are ready for the first visitors to test them in winter sports, Russian Deputy Minister for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Yuri Nagornykh said. There is not a single federal structure uninvolved in preparations of Olympic facilities for tests and development of contest programs.
Russian sportsmen will arrive in Krasnaya Polyana in late January, foreigners of the World Ski Cup will start arriving on February 6. The European Snowboard Cup will be hosted in mid-February. The biathlon will start in early February, bobsleigh games will be held in March. Sportsmen will have springboard competitions in the first half of 2012. Yuri Nagornykh noted that they expect about 8,000 guests, judges, reporters, special guests in February and March, which is why preparations of the sports facilities and their infrastructure is important. New modern hotels, first of Olympic facilities, will open in early January and will be ready for world ski stars. "Experience in hosting test competitions will be invaluable for organizers for the coming Winter Olympic Games 2014", Nagornykh said, noting that this experience would benefit Olympic sportment in the future.
A Paralympic test programfor skiing will be held in February 2012. Sergey Nazarov, Director of the Department for Sports Events of the Russian Ministry for Sports and Tourism, said that they had to do a lot of work to adapt routes and accomodation for sportsmen, it is the first such high-scale activity in Russia.
Russia hosted the World Skiing Cup this year. "Such competitions are the most complicated in the winter program, in terms of standards for organization", Nazarov noted. "Today the level of readiness is very high", he says. Routes that may be offered by the Rosa Khutor skiing complex in the Adler District of Sochi are some of the world's most challenging, this is why security measures are so advanced.
The International Organization for Skiing Sports in Zurich showed interest in the international cups for skiing, snowboarding and freestyle in Russia. Sergey Korol, Director General of the Association of Ski Sports of Russia, said that he cannot recall so many people at previous presentations. A lot of notable guests are expected to arrive for the games in 2012. "World-known architects were invited for building the routes", Korol underlined. The games in Sochi will have two new disciplines - the half-pipe (this year) and slop-style (next year).
"We expect that the Olympic facilities in Russia will be a competent part of the system of world winter cups", Yuri Nagornykh said. He announced that Russia expects to bid for hosting the World Bobsleigh Cup 2016. Test competitions may reveal the need for additional snowmaking machines. But Rosa Khutor may boast the highest number of snowmaking machines, compared with any world ski resort. "The games in Sochi are in many aspect innovative games. Technologies used at Olympic Facilities are the most advanced", Nagornykh believes.
