2014 Winter Olympics facts for kids
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Emblem of the 2014 Winter Olympics
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| Host city | Sochi, Russia | ||
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| Motto | Hot. Cool. Yours. (Russian: Жаркие. Зимние. Твои., Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi) |
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| Nations | 88 | ||
| Athletes | 2,873 | ||
| Events | 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) | ||
| Opening | 7 February 2014 | ||
| Closing | 23 February 2014 | ||
| Opened by | |||
| Cauldron | |||
| Stadium | Fisht Olympic Stadium | ||
| Winter | |||
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| Summer | |||
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The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (Russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, romanized: XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (Russian: Сочи 2014), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening rounds in certain events were held on 6 February 2014, the day before the opening ceremony.
These were the first Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency of Thomas Bach. Both the Olympics and Paralympics were organized by the Sochi Organizing Committee (SOOC). Sochi was selected as the host city in July 2007, during the 119th IOC Session held in Guatemala City. It was the first Olympics to be held in a CIS state after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union was previously the host nation for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
A record ninety-eight events in fifteen winter sport disciplines were held during the Games. A number of new competitions—a total of twelve accounting for gender—were held during the Games, including biathlon mixed relay, women's ski jumping, mixed-team figure skating, mixed-team luge, half-pipe skiing, ski and snowboard slopestyle, and snowboard parallel slalom. The events were held around two clusters of new venues: an Olympic Park constructed in Sochi's Imeretinsky Valley on the coast of the Black Sea, with Fisht Olympic Stadium, and the Games' indoor venues located within walking distance; and snow events in the resort settlement of Krasnaya Polyana.
The 2014 Winter Olympics were the most expensive Games in the history of the Olympics. While originally budgeted at US$12 billion, major cost overruns caused this figure to expand to US$51 billion, more than three times the cost of the 2012 London Olympics and even surpassing the estimated cost of US$44 billion for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The 2014 Games achieved a record broadcast audience of 2.1 billion people worldwide.
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Sports
Fifteen winter sports were played in the 2014 Winter Olympics program. Sports included were ones that are generally played in the winter. They include skiing, ice skating, ice hockey, and curling. A total of twelve new events was contested to make it the largest Winter Olympics to date. The following sports were played:
- Ice hockey
- Figure skating
- Luge
- Skeleton
- Bobsledding
- Ski jumping
- Skiing
- Snowboarding
- Curling
- Cross country skiing
- Biathlon
- Speed skating
Venues
With an average February temperature of 8.3 °C (46.9 °F) and a humid subtropical climate, Sochi is the warmest city to host a Winter Olympic Games. Sochi 2014 is the 12th straight Olympics to outlaw smoking; all Sochi venues, Olympic Park bars and restaurants and public areas were smoke-free during the Games. It is also the first time that an Olympic Park has been built for hosting winter games.
Sochi Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster)
The Sochi Olympic Park was built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretinsky Valley, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from Russia's border with Abkhazia/Georgia. The venues were clustered around a central water basin on which the Medals Plaza is built, allowing all indoor venues to be within walking distance. It also features "The Waters of the Olympic Park" (designed by California-based company WET), a choreographed fountain which served as the backdrop in the medals awards and the opening and closing ceremonies of the event. The new venues include:
- Fisht Olympic Stadium – ceremonies (opening/closing) 40,000 spectators
- Bolshoy Ice Dome – ice hockey (final), 12,000 spectators
- Shayba Arena – ice hockey, 7,000 spectators
- Adler Arena Skating Center – speed skating, 8,000 spectators
- Iceberg Skating Palace – figure skating, short track speed skating, 12,000 spectators
- Ice Cube Curling Center – curling, 3,000 spectators
- Main Olympic village
- International broadcasting centre and main press room
Krasnaya Polyana (Mountain Cluster)
- Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex – biathlon, cross-country skiing
- Rosa Khutor Extreme Park – freestyle skiing and snowboarding
- Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort – alpine skiing
- Sliding Center Sanki – bobsleigh, luge and skeleton
- RusSki Gorki Jumping Center – ski jumping and Nordic combined (both ski jumping and cross-country skiing on a 2 km route around the arena)
- Roza Khutor plateau Olympic Village
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the Games was held on 7 February 2014. It was held from 20:14 to 23:02 local time. The Games were officially opened by Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. There was an audience of about 40,000 people. The performance part of the ceremony was mainly about Russian classical music. The pop duo t.A.T.u performed as well.
The site of the opening ceremony was Fisht Olympic Stadium. This was built just for the games. It will be used only for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony was held on 23 February 2014 between 20:14 MSK (UTC+4) and 22:25 MSK (UTC+4) at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi. The ceremony was dedicated to Russian culture featuring world-renowned Russian stars like conductor and violinist Yuri Bashmet, conductor Valery Gergiev, pianist Denis Matsuev, singer Hibla Gerzmava and violinist Tatiana Samouil. These artists were joined by performers from the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters.
Medals
Sochi's medal design was unveiled in May 2013. The design is intended to resemble Sochi's landscape, with a semi-translucent section containing a "patchwork quilt" of diamonds representing mountains; the diamonds themselves contain designs that reflect Russia's regions. Those who won gold medals on 15 February received special medals with fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteor, marking the one-year anniversary of the event where pieces of the cosmic body fell into the Chebarkul Lake in the Ural Mountains in central Russia.
Medal table
The top ten listed NOCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation, Russia, is highlighted. 2014 Winter Olympics medal table
Images for kids
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Fans celebrating Sochi's bid win
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Fisht Olympic Stadium under re-construction in 2015.
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Vladimir Putin with George W. Bush and Laura Bush examining the models of the Olympic facilities for Sochi, April 2008
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100 Russian ruble banknote issued in 2013 by the Central Bank of Russia
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Night view of Sochi during the Olympics, taken by Expedition 38 members from the International Space Station
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Olympic Park railway station
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Sochi seaport
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A "Lastochka" (Siemens Desiro) train, which serves the Tuapse–Sochi route
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Sochi at night from space
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Fireworks over Fisht Olympic Stadium following the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron.
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The Olympic Rings at Sochi Olympic Park
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Postage stamps of Transnistria, Sochi Olympic Games (2014)
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See also
In Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Sochi 2014 para niños
