A Sochi 2014 bid delegation including Sochi 2014 CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko was back on the road during the weekend, to attend back-to-back, two of the season’s major winter sport events, the FIBT World Championship held in St. Moritz Switzerland, and the FIL World Championship in Igles Austria.
The bid team met with the International Federations to obtain their perspective and best practices in their respective sports. Chernyshenko spent time with officials at both events.
The new Bobsleigh track in Sochi is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2009. It’s an integral part of the new Russian National Sliding Center in Krasnaya Polyana that will house the Skeleton and Luge venues.
FIBT Track Commission Chairman Terry Gudzowsky said, “we are impressed by the technical plans for the new bobsleigh track. It promises to be one of the best and most innovating concepts in the world. Russian enthusiasm for our sport and the desire to create a cutting-edge facility is remarkable”.
Chernyshenko said of the weekend’s events, “we were very pleased to cheer on the Russian teams at these events and to review our plans with the International Federations. Our vision for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi includes state-of-the-art designs that are compact and take the comfort of the entire Olympic Family to heart. We are quite proud of our plans for the Russian National Sliding Centre and look forward to hosting the world in Krasnaya Polyana”.
Meanwhile Oleg Mitvol, head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, said Friday “if the Olympic Games take place in Russia, we have all chances to make it one of the most environmentally friendly in the world”.
He added, “the whole country needs (Olympic Games) but we must do everything to make sure that not only does the environment situation in the region not deteriorate but even improve in some ways”.
Mitvol said he believes there is “a real possibility” to do that and said attention to environmental aspects of the Olympic Games was “quite serious”. He said Sochi can develop as a world-level climatic resort. “To be proud of Sochi we have to change its entire infrastructure. It is a matter of choosing between the Olympic Games and the environment. The Olympic Games must be held without changing the environmental balance in the region”.
