IOC Praises Preparations for Russian Winter Olympics

(ATR) The IOC's chief inspector for Sochi 2014 says Olympic construction, transformation and legacy are "starting to take shape quite nicely". Jean-Claude Killy spoke Wednesday at the close of the IOC Coordination Commission's fifth visit to the Black Sea resort.

The Frenchman told a news conference in Sochi that "everything is going according to plan" on the construction front for the Olympics, adding: "I wouldn't have said that last year."

With more than 250 Olympic-related projects being built, largely from scratch, for the Games the fast-track construction project has been a source of concern to the IOC since it awarded the Olympics to Sochi in 2007. The Olympic Park coastal cluster of ice venues is currently one of Europe's biggest construction sites.

Killy has warned on previous IOC inspections that Russian organizers have no time to waste to deliver projects on time. But initial fears over the construction timetable appear to have evaporated as the 'big build' reaches its peak in the coastal cluster and in the mountains of Krasnaya Polyana where a number of venues are already operational and others well advanced.

"On the construction front, the initial vision for the transformation of the region is starting to materialise, with infrastructure and venues rapidly rising from the ground," Killy said.

Sochi 2014 has pledged to complete 70 percent of the construction work by the end of the year.

During the three-day inspection, Killy and the commission were briefed on all aspects of the Sochi 2014 project and toured venues. Sochi 2014 CEO and president Dmitry Chernyshenko and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, the Russian government's Olympics csar, led the meetings.

The IOC also met with Sergey Gaplikov, head of state corporation Olympstroy, for the first time. Gaplikov is the fourth president of the company in just four years; it is responsible for delivery of all Olympic construction projects.

At the IOC's closing press conference, Kozak dismissed suggestions that corruption and kickbacks were raising the costs of Olympic constructions.

"Corruption and embezzlement can be confirmed only after a court verdict. Such a verdict has not been pronounced," he was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.

Concerns were also raised about what would happen at the Olympics if there was an repeat of the thick fog that led to some flight delays at Sochi airports for a few days this winter.

In the event of such bad weather during the Sochi Games, Kozak confirmedthat contingency plans would see Sochi-bound flights rerouted to the city of Krasnodar 160km north of the Black Sea resort, with athletes and Olympic visitors brought by rail to Sochi.

Killy, a triple Olympic champion at the 1968 Olympics, confirmed today that Sochi's preparations were moving into the Games-delivery phase following progress on construction work and the staging of the first successful test events — FIS Europa Cup skiing competitions — last month.

"It allowed the Games organizers to learn many lessons for the future, and we can see these already being integrated into their planning," he said.

The IOC's visit came just a month after the mascots were selected - a hare, polar bear and snow leopard are the symbols of the Games.

Killy and his colleagues on the IOC panel expressed satisfaction that planning was reaching "a new level of detail".

"Sochi 2014 is starting to bring its Games vision to life, and is delivering on the legacy of improving the living conditions in the region through bringing infrastructural and environmental improvements," Killy said.

Commenting specifically on the sites of the Alpine skiing slopes and the sliding track, Killy noted: "It is with great satisfaction that we saw how compact these Games will be, thanks to the efforts that have been made to scale them down and bring all the venues into a very condensed area in the mountain cluster.

"This has helped from a financial standpoint, and will also facilitate the operations for athletes and spectators alike.

"The Games are fundamentally about sport, but they are also about construction, transformation and legacy, and those four elements are starting to take shape quite nicely now."

The IOC commission identified four priorities that Sochi 2014 organizers must focus on in the coming weeks and months.

They include: identifying, recruiting and training and providing accommodation for the workforce for the Games; finalizing the staff relocation plan, which involves large numbers of people who will soon be moving from Moscow to Sochi; ensuring "top-level client experience" with the transport system for the Games; and mobilising the city and region's entire hospitality industry to fulfil the ambition of creating a year-round center for tourism in Sochi.

Chernyshenko was pleased with the outcome of the IOC's inspection.

"We have made significant steps forward across all areas, including construction, environmental, legacy and commercial aspects in our preparations for the Games," he said. "I am delighted to be able to say that, with just under three years to go until the Games, 40 percent of the planned construction work on the Sochi 2014 venues is complete."

Written by Mark Bisson.