Russian NOC Chief Dismisses Sochi 2014 Legacy Critics

(ATR) Alexander Zhukov tells Around the Rings reports of Olympic legacy problems are wide of the mark.

After celebrating the Feb. 7 one-year anniversary of the first Russian Winter Games on Saturday, Zhukov insisted the post-Games promises were coming true.

"We can say without a doubt that the legacy left after the Olympic Games is really great," the Russian Olympic Committee president and IOC member Alexander told ATR.

There are mixed reports about whether Sochi’s Olympic Park and mountain venues are being well-utilized, with one saying at least two Russian oligarchs are dumping their "toxic" Games assets on the state due to the battered economy. But Zhukov has a different take on Sochi’s transformation into a winter sports destination.

Zhukov said the "outstanding" Games venues "can be used for both major sporting events and athletes training, as well as new training centers for those sports that were not popular in Russia before, for example Alpine skiing... in fact a new ski resort has been founded. Our sliding center is recognized as one of the best in the world."

He said the most important Olympic legacy was that "millions of people have been engaged in sports" both during and after the 2014 Games. Zhukov claimed interest and participation in ice hockey, cross-country skiing, figure skating, short track skating and snowboard "became very popular after the Games".

"Programs promoting healthy lifestyle, physical culture and sports in all social, age and gender groups including disabled people have been implemented all over Russia," he added.

Among the Olympic legacies is the opening of new and renovated sports centers "This is a very important moment. Extensive work is being conducted to involve children and youth in sporting activities," Zhukov explained, saying Sochi’s barrier-free environment for able and disabled people had become a model for other Russian cities to follow, while the Games "gave a powerful impulse" to the development of the volunteer movement.

Zhukovwas chairman of the supervisory board of the Sochi 2014 organizing committee and became and IOC member in 2013.

One year on, the 58-year-old said the legacy benefits were clear – from the city's modernized transport and telecommunications infrastructure to the competition venues.

"In general, Sochi now is a completely new city. It is a modern all-season resort, offering a maximum range of services to all categories of tourists," he said. "This year, we see an influx of tourists, all hotels are full. Large numbers of Alpine skiing fans come to Sochi at the present time."

He dismissed concerns that the Sochi 2014 venues are becoming white elephants.

"All Olympic venues are actively used. Various competitions are held both in the mountain cluster and Imeretinskaya Valley [Olympic Park]," he said. Zhukov cites the staging of the F1 Grand Prix and new ice hockey club in the Black Sea resort as well as other sports events held at the Olympic Park.

"It is also very important that in Sochi we established the All-Russian Children's Sports and Health Center, where children can live and train year-round at Olympic venues," he added. "Every month, various educational and sports programmes are carried out for children who come to Sochi from all over Russia."

Russian president Vladimir Putin and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev joined a host of dignatories in Sochi on Saturday to celebrate the first anniversary of the 2014 Olympics.

Jean-Claude Killy, head of the IOC’s coordination commission for the Sochi Games, was greeted by Putin with a warm hug at the Iceberg Skating Palace where an ice show ‘A Year After the Games’ was staged. Swiss IOC member Rene Fasel, who heads the International Ice Hockey Federation, was also in attendance.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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