(ATR) Sochi 2014 president Dimitry Chernyshenko showed off the medals for next year’s Games at SportAccord on Thursday.
Attendees at a packed press conference included IOC Coordination Commission chairman Jean-Claude Killy, CEO of the IPC Xavier Gonzalez and the Russian government’s Olympic czar Dmitry Kozak.
The Olympic and Paralympic medals feature the Sochi 2014 "Patchwork Quilt" – a mosaic of national designs from the various cultures and ethnicities of the Russian Federation. They depict Sochi’s landscape from the sun's rays reflecting through the snowy mountain tops onto the sandy beaches of Black Sea coast.
The front of the medals feature the Olympic rings. They are made of metal and polycarbonate.
"I think these medals will be so welcomed that they will try and bring them home with them," Chernyshenko said.
Kozak added: "I think the medals are very beautiful."
Depending on the type of metal used, the Olympic medals weigh between 460-531g, and the Paralympic medals 585-686g grams, due to their design peculiarities. Each medal is 10 mm thick and 100 mm in diameter.
A total of 1,300 medals will be handed out at the Olympics and Paralympics – a Winter Games record
Sochi 2014’s Olympic program includes 12 new medal events including men’s and women’s snowboard and ski slopestyle, the ski halfpipe, snowboard parallel special slalom, womens’ ski jumping, the figure skating team event, the luge relay and the biathlon mixed relay.
Giving an update of Sochi 2014’s progress as part of the SportAccord Convention program, Chernyshenko claims Sochi is "totally ready."
"You should understand that we very successfully tested every venue," he said. "We are fully ready. Basic construction will be done close to October."
Following that, he said only "beautification and decorating" will remain on the agenda.
Chernyshenko downplayed criticisms of the rise in costs for Sochi 2014, with reports that total spending has ballooned to $50 billion. He said that includes a number of ancillary projects, including rail upgrades between Moscow and Sochi. The official budget for the organizing remains unchanged from 2007, he said.
When asked about security for the Games, he insisted Sochi will be safe, adding that the organizing committee’s first goal in its security procedures is to be "convenient" for spectators.
"You won’t be caged in at the Olympic Park," he said.
Reported by Mark Bissonand Ed Hula III
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