Analyzing Challenges and Outcomes of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics presented numerous challenges that offer valuable insights for future mega sporting events. This assignment involves analyzing these challenges across multiple domains such as economics, ethics, logistics, and governance. Students will examine how the economic ambitions of hosting such a grand event led to significant cost overruns and issues with corruption among officials. Additionally, doping scandals raised questions about the integrity of competitive sports and the need for stringent anti-doping measures. Animal welfare concerns highlighted ethical considerations that future events must address more diligently. Infrastructural challenges, including technical malfunctions, underscored the importance of robust planning and execution. The assignment will culminate in formulating strategic recommendations to enhance stakeholder engagement, ensure event sustainability, and uphold the spirit of fair competition.

Running head: ANALYIS OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYMPICS
WINTER OLYMPICS OF SOCHI
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1ANALYIS OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYMPICS
Executive Summary
The report analyzes the different stages of the event of Winter Olympics of Sochi. The
formation stage of the game is analyzed, the growth stage is discussed and the staging of the
winter Olympics is also analyzed. Recommendations are provided about to address sustainability
issues and to create value for stakeholders.

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Contents
THE ANALYIS OF EVENTS LIFE CYCLE STAGES.................................................................3
THE FORMATIONS STAGE OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYPICS................................................3
THE GROWTH STAGE OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYPICS........................................................4
THE STAGING OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYMPICS...................................................................5
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................5
REFERENCE LISTS.......................................................................................................................8

3ANALYIS OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYMPICS
Introduction- The event life cycle of Sochi’s Winter Olympics is analyzed.
THE ANALYIS OF EVENTS LIFE CYCLE STAGES
THE FORMATIONS STAGE OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYPICS
The bidding process of for the Olympics started in the year 2007 during the 119th session
of International Olympic Committee in the city of Guatemala. Salzburg, Austria;
and Pyeongchang also bid for hosting the Olympics of 2014 but Sochi won the bid and was
elected to host the winter Olympics of 2014.The emblem of the winter Olympics of 2014
reflected designs of landscapes of Russia and the words ‘’Sochi ‘’and ‘’ 2014’’ mirrored one
another vertically (Müller 2014). Votes from public were received through online platform and
text messages and these votes were accountable for the decision of the mascot of Sochi’s Winter
Olympics. The 10 finalists of these votes were aired in Channel One and snow leopard, polar
bear and snow hare were chosen as official mascots of 2014 Winter Olympics. Five 100 days
prior to the beginning of Winter Olympics of Sochi on 25th September 2012, the official slogan-
Hot. Cool. Yours for the Olympics was chosen (Orttung & Zhemukhov, 2014). This slogan
reflects the heated competition of the athletes of the Olympics game, the cold climate of Sochi
and the idea of belongingness (Arnold & Foxall, 2014). The gaming company Nintendo
released official video games of this Olympics both on android platform and Facebook. These
games were Mario & Sonic series, Sochi 2014: Olympics Game Resort. Special coins and 100-
rubles notes games were released by the Bank of Russia and postage stamps which reflected
venues, mascots and athletes of the Olympics were released by Russian Post (Müller, 2012). In
the year 2009, during a seminar energy experts from Russia built a strategy to increase the
supply of power in Sochi and the power demand expected to increase by 340 MW to make Sochi

4ANALYIS OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYMPICS
ready or Olympics. Funds were allocated for the construction of roads and hotels to make Sochi
ready to host the Winter Olympics game (Alekseyeva, 2014). The opening of six post offices at
the center of the Olympic park enabled these post offices to be open till late night during the
Olympics. In 2011, $1.2 billion sponsorship was raised and the Olympics building was
constructed by 55,000 workers (Andreff, 2013).
DISCUSSION
THE GROWTH STAGE OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYPICS
HDTV satellites, fiber-optic cables, TETRA MOBILE radio communications were
infrastructures that were built for the game. Avaya supplied telecommunication equipment to
Organizing Committee of Sochi. US$ 580 million was spent to improve telecommunication and
infrastructure in Sochi.In the year 2013, design of medal for the Olympics was unveiled.
Russian Armed forces and police forces were allotted to improve the security of Sochi. The
Coca Cola Company, General Electronics, Procter and Gamble and many other notable multi-
national enterprises sponsored the 2014 Winter Olympics. Volkswagen group, Russian
Railways and many other national companies partnered with the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. In
the year 2013, International Space Station has sent the Olympic Torch of the Sochi Winter
Olympics to space. On 7th October 2013, torch relay of the Olympics commenced at Moscow
(Gronskaya & Makarychev, 2014). .This relay covered 83 cities of Russia and arrived at Sochi
on 7th February, 2014-the opening day of the Olympic ceremony. For the first time in the history
of Olympics this torch was passed to space and International Space Station was decorated with
the emblem of the game (Persson & Petersson, 2014).

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THE STAGING OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYMPICS
On 7th February 2014, the opening ceremony of Winter Olympics of 2014 was held on
Fisht Olympic Stadium. The scenes of the Olympic ceremony reflected arts and history of
Russia. Age of Soviet Union, the Russian Revolution, ballet and classical music were part of the
opening ceremony. Notable sports celebrities like Maria Sharapova lit the Olympic torch and the
Olympic cauldron situated at the middle of the Olympic park was also jointly lit by celebrities.
88 nations participated in the Winter Olympics of 2014 at Sochi and seven nations like Togo,
Malta, Timor-Leste, Dominicia, Tonga, Zimbabwe and Paraguay debuted in Sochi’s Olympics.
98 events of seven sports were staged in the Sochi’s Winter Olympics. Some of the medal
events which were contested in the Olympics were Snowboarding, Alpine skiing, Luge , Speed
skating , Ice hockey, Ski Jumping, Curling, Bobsleigh, Cross- Country Skiing, Short track Speed
Skating, Biathlon and few more. The broadcasting rights were given to NTV Plus, Channel One
and VGTRK in Russia, NBC Universal got the right to broadcast the Winter Olympics in the
United States of America, Network 10 received the broadcasting rights in Australia from the
International Olympics Committee. On 23rd February 2014, closing ceremony of Sochi’s Winter
Olympics took place at the Fisht Olympics stadium (Trubina, 2014). Medalists paraded and 33
medals were won by athletes from Russia and 28 medals were won by participants from
America. 26 medals were won by Norway. During the games, national houses were allotted for
countries like China, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and few more where athletes, supporters and
followers met (Petersson & Vamling, 2013). Few athletes were injured in the event (Soligard et
al., 2015). Doping was also a major concern of the event (Sobolevsky et al., 2014).

6ANALYIS OF SOCHI’S WINTER OLYMPICS
RECOMMENDATIONS
1) The Sochi’s Winter Olympics had adverse effects on environment. The construct work in
Sochi has blocked the routes of migration for animals like the brown bear. There was dumping of
waste which was illegal, there was scarcity of drinking water for the residents of Sochi and the
quality of their life decreased. The recommendation is that the environmental concerns should
not be ignored to build construction, roads and transportation for the Winter Olympics. Waste
management procedures and waste recycling methods should be adopted by the organizers to
address the issue of environmental sustainability. The construction methods and wastes should
be carefully handled to avoid collapse of buildings, flow of mud and landslides.
2) The biodiversity was also lost in Sochi and national park in Sochi was habitat of plants and
animals and some parts of this national park were damaged. The events of sports are
recommended to be relocated away from the World Heritage site of UNESCO. The preservation
of biodiversity is of paramount importance and it is recommended that constructional work,
building of roads and transportation should not hamper the livelihood of animals and plants.
There were reports that stray dogs in Russia were poisoned before Olympics. Such cruelty
against animals should be strictly avoided.
3) Doping was a concern of the Sochi’s Winter Olympics. Athletes from Russia were doped to
deliver excellent performance in the Olympics. The recommendation is that strong measures
should be taken by International Olympic Committee to prevent such illegal procedures which
can tarnish the reputation of a prestigious sports event. Investigation of the athletes should be
conducted and their urine should be tasted to administer the prevention of doping. The anti-
doping officials should follow rules and regulations and monitor the athletes strictly to prevent
doping. Also the Winter Olympics of Sochi held in 2014 was one of the most expensive

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Olympics with , these cost overruns should be avoided and measures should have been taken to
eliminate corruption among government officials in Sochi. There were reports that the Olympics
ring malfunctioned and there were problems like the flush in the toilets did not work. The
recommendation is that hygiene should be maintained well during the staging of the Olympics
game and technical errors should be avoided. The concerns for stakeholders should be addressed
by organizers of Olympics.

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Reference Lists
Alekseyeva, A. (2014). Sochi 2014 and the rhetoric of a new Russia: Image construction
through mega-events. East European Politics, 30(2), 158-174.
Andreff, W. (2013). Economic development as major determinant of Olympic medal wins:
predicting performances of Russian and Chinese teams at Sochi Games. International
Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, 6(4), 314-340.
Arnold, R., & Foxall, A. (2014). Lord of the (Five) Rings: Issues at the 2014 Sochi Winter
Olympic Games: Guest Editors' Introduction. Problems of Post-Communism, 61(1), 3-12.
Gronskaya, N., & Makarychev, A. (2014). The 2014 Sochi Olympics and" Sovereign Power" A
Political Linguistic Perspective. Problems of Post-Communism, 61(1), 41-51.
Müller, M. (2012). Popular perception of urban transformation through megaevents:
understanding support for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Environment and
Planning C: Government and Policy, 30(4), 693-711.
Müller, M. (2014). Introduction: Winter Olympics Sochi 2014: what is at stake?. East european
politics, 30(2), 153-157.
Orttung, R. W., & Zhemukhov, S. (2014). The 2014 Sochi Olympic mega-project and Russia's
political economy. East European Politics, 30(2), 175-191.
Persson, E., & Petersson, B. (2014). Political mythmaking and the 2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi: Olympism and the Russian great power myth. East European Politics, 30(2), 192-
209.

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Petersson, B., & Vamling, K. (Eds.). (2013). The Sochi predicament: contexts, characteristics
and challenges of the Olympic Winter Games in 2014. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Sobolevsky, T., Krotov, G., Dikunets, M., Nikitina, M., Mochalova, E., & Rodchenkov, G.
(2014). Anti‐doping analyses at the Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games 2014. Drug
testing and analysis, 6(11-12), 1087-1101.
Soligard, T., Steffen, K., Palmer-Green, D., Aubry, M., Grant, M. E., Meeuwisse, W., ... &
Engebretsen, L. (2015). Sports injuries and illnesses in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter
Games. Br J Sports Med, 49(7), 441-447.
Trubina, E. (2014). Mega-events in the context of capitalist modernity: the case of 2014 Sochi
Winter Olympics. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 55(6), 610-627.