The Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi is celebrating after being selected to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The vote by the Olympic Committee went to the 2nd round on Wednesday in Guatemala City. Sochi eventually won out after Salzburg was eliminated in the first round, followed by the South Korean city of Pyeongchang in the second. 'We are overjoyed. This is one of the most important days in Russia's history,' said Dmitry Chernyshenko, ceo of the Sochi bid.
The Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi is celebrating after being selected to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The vote by the Olympic Committee went to the 2nd round on Wednesday in Guatemala City. Sochi eventually won out after Salzburg was eliminated in the first round, followed by the South Korean city of Pyeongchang in the second. 'We are overjoyed. This is one of the most important days in Russia's history,' said Dmitry Chernyshenko, ceo of the Sochi bid.
The city's campaign for the Olympics is built around the Russian Federal Target Programme which guarantees $12 bn - a combination of public and private money - for the development of Sochi over the next seven years.
Last March, Chernyshenko presented plans at the Mipim real estate fair in Cannes for the transformation of Sochi for the games. Eleven new state-of-the-art sports venues are to be built - the largest number in the history of the Winter Games. The development plan also includes new roads, railways and more than 25,000 new hotel rooms of 3-star to 5-star quality.
After the Winter Olympics, Sochi will have the infrastructure to become an all season resort, Chernyshenko said.
