Sochi Scene - Luge Test, Media Onslaught

(ATR) Sochi 2014 CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko tells Around the Rings "I see the light at the end of the tunnel" as the organizing committee heads into a crucial week, 15 months till the Games.

Sochi plays host to top lugers from around the world in a test event for the sport in the mountains of Krasnaya Polyana, center for ski and sliding events in 2014.

"It’s one thing to build a venue, it’s another thing to make it operational," he says after a visit to the venue Monday morning for the first runs down the track. Sanctioned by luge federation FIL, the nine-day event will draw about 130 sliders from 26 countries.

"The challenge is fine-tuning, making sure the athletes feel comfortable, safe. I’m rather satisfied with what I saw so far," says Chernyshenko.

Chernyshenko says in the interest of athlete safety the track has been designed to be "less aggressive". The move came after the death of a young luger from Georgia who suffered a fatal crash on a training run hours before the opening ceremony for Vancouver 2010.

More from Chernyshenko in Tuesday Talk

The Sochi 2014 chief talks further with ATR’s Ed Hula about the test event, expectations for the World Press Briefing this week, the torch relay and other big jobs still ahead.

Tuesday Talk publishes at 0500 GMT Nov. 6.

Press Onslaught for Sochi

Chernyshenko and the team from Sochi 2014 are playing host this week to the biggest-ever contingent of foreign press to visit for the purpose of the Olympics. More than 200 representatives from newspapers, online publications and other media are arriving in Sochi for the World Press Briefing.

Organized by Sochi 2014 and the IOC, this four-day session includes exhaustive visits to the Olympic Park venues on the coast and the assortment of ski and sliding venues in the mountains some 50 km north of the coastal cluster.

Sochi staff will brief the press on a dozen-plus subjects like accommodations, transport and technology in sessions Thursday and Friday.

The meeting is being held at the Grand Polyana Hotel, a resort complex near the ski and sliding areas.

Press Commission Meets, Too

The hotel (host to two other Olympics-related meetings last week) is also the scene of the annual meeting of the IOC Press Commission.

Chaired by senior Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper, the commission includes reps from major news agencies, organizing committees past and present, technical experts and a handful of other IOC members. South Africa’s Sam Ramsamy was the only other IOC member present. IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli and Media Director Anthony Edgar came from Lausanne headquarters.

Agenda items for the meeting included a London debrief and a review of plans for Sochi, possibly the last time for the advisory panel to recommend any changes.

Looking further ahead, staff from Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018 were at the table for this meeting. Communications director Carlos Villanova is in the midst of planning for Rio’s press infrastructure while Pyeongchang made its debut at a press commission.

Ria Novosti Olympics Forum

Russian Information and News Agency Rio Novosti held its second forum on the Olympics for journalists from across Russia last weekend. More than 200 made it to Krasnaya Polyana for a series of presentations on coverage of the Games, including experts from abroad such as ATR Editor Ed Hula.

Most of the reporters trended towards youth, such as 28 year-old Alexander Kazakov, a political science professor who writes freelance for publications in Saratov, 1500 km from Sochi.

"These Games are an investment for the country, for our external image," he tells ATR.

"Russians are considered to be rude, impolite, drunk people. And I think that the Olympics can change these stereotypes of Russia," says Kazakov.

Written and reported in Sochi by Ed Hula

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