Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 Event Management

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, examining various stages of the event, from its formation and bidding process to its staging and aftermath. It details the planning committee's role, the construction of the Olympic Park, and the challenges posed by Sochi's relatively warm climate. The essay highlights the significant budget overruns, reaching $50 billion, and discusses the marketing and advertising strategies employed. The cultural celebrations, sponsorships, and security measures implemented are also explored. Furthermore, the essay touches upon the controversies surrounding the event, including the use of land belonging to the Circassian people and the extensive monitoring of communications. Finally, it offers recommendations for future Olympic events, focusing on post-Olympic park usage and budget management.

Running Head: Sochi Winter Olympics 2014
Sochi Winter Olympics 2014
Event Management

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................1
Formation of the event:....................................................................................................................1
Bidding............................................................................................................................................1
Planning committee.........................................................................................................................1
Olympic Park...................................................................................................................................1
City Temperature.............................................................................................................................1
Growing stage of the event:.............................................................................................................1
Budgeting.........................................................................................................................................1
Invitations........................................................................................................................................2
Cultural Celebrations.......................................................................................................................2
Marketing and Advertising..............................................................................................................2
Sponsors...........................................................................................................................................2
Telecommunication Security...........................................................................................................2
Power infrastructure.........................................................................................................................2
Transportation..................................................................................................................................2
Staging of the event:........................................................................................................................2
Torch relay.......................................................................................................................................2
Opening Ceremony..........................................................................................................................3
Participating Countries....................................................................................................................3

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Sports...............................................................................................................................................3
Medals..............................................................................................................................................3
Broadcasting and filming.................................................................................................................3
Recommendations:..........................................................................................................................3
Post-Olympic usage of the park.......................................................................................................3
Exceeding budget.............................................................................................................................3
Venue Selection...............................................................................................................................3
Referencing:.....................................................................................................................................4

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Introduction:
Olympic Games are leading international sporting events featuring competitions in
diverse sports amongst athletes from over 200 nations. The event is conducted every 4 years with
summer and winter games being coordinated two years apart. Participating in Olympic Games is
considered as the most important milestone of an athlete’s career. Winter Olympic 2014 was
conducted in the city of Sochi in Russia from 7th till 23rd of February. This was the first time that
Olympics was hosted in Russia after the Soviet union break up in 1991. A total of 98 events
spanning across the discipline of 15 winter sports were executed. Till today, it is considered as
the most expensive Olympic ever organized with a budget of $51bn. This essay will throw light
upon the various stages of the event from its planning to growth and finally staging.
Formation of the event:
Bidding
Sochi was selected as the host city by a bidding process where South Korea and Australia
were first and second runner ups. After a lengthy process of various investigations, IOC makes
the final decision on which city is best suited to host the games (Forbes, 2016).
Planning committee
Sochi was selected as the host city in July 2007. Post which the government formed the
Sochi Organizing Committee to oversee the planning and execution of the event. One of the most
important tasks of the organizing committee is to ensure that every competition is held as per the
rules of International Sports Federation. They need to make sure that before the event all the
necessary and required installations have been in place and the athletes are provided all required
amenities to play. Players participate in the games from different parts of the globe and hence
lodging, transportation and medical assistance services are provided to them and their entourage.
And lastly, drafting and submitting a report in two languages for public distribution within two
years of the completion of the game (Olympic, 2017).

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Olympic Park
Olympic park was built for the first time in the history of Olympic Games to conduct the
event. State of the art facility started construction in 2007 and most venues were completed by
2013.
City Temperature
Average February temperature of 8 degrees made Sochi the warmest city to host winter
games. Hence even more efforts were put in to ensure the games take place in the most
appropriate circumstances.
Growing stage of the event:
Budgeting
A few years down the line, there were tremendous changes in budget. Original budget
was kept at $12bn but it later increased to $50bn dollars (Business Insider, 2014). This made
Sochi Winter Olympics, the most expensive in the history of Olympic Games.
Invitations
One year before the event, in a ceremony, President Rogge personally invited athletes.
All invitations were sent by post from the IOC headquarters. Individual countries had already
started registering and finalizing their players for representation at the games.
Cultural Celebrations
Olympic game ceremony is marked by various cultural events where the host country
gets a chance to showcase their cultural richness to the rest of the world. Best performers were
chosen from different parts of the country after a strenuous selecting procedure by a committee.
Opening ceremony was a lavish event organized at a grand scale with immense participation
from the countrymen (YouTube, 2014)

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Marketing and Advertising
Marketing of the event starts at least five years before the event. The emblem was
unveiled in Dec 2009. The official Slogan ‘Hot. Cool. Yours.’ Was finalized in 2012. And the
official mascots polar bear, snow hare and a snow leopard were selected by a public vote in 2011
(CNN News, 2017).
Sponsors
Every event needs investors and sponsors who are willing to spend money on the event.
Growing stage of the event requires getting these sponsors on board by providing them with a
platform to advertise their products. Committee formed decides the kind of marketing different
sponsors receive at the event. Coca-Cola, Omega, Panasonic, P&G among others were the
biggest sponsors of the event (Sponsorship, 2014)
Telecommunication Security
Telecommunication Security was also taken into extensive consideration as Russia’s FSB
ensured that no communication between spectators or competitors goes unmonitored (The
Guardian, 2013).
Power infrastructure
Russia is among the biggest energy super powers of the world. Since winning the bid in
2007, Russia built 49 major energy projects and increased the Sochi energy generating capacity
by 800% (National Geographic, 2014).
Transportation
In an attempt to modernization of transportation before Sochi games, government built
more than 360km of road, 321km of railroad tracks and 22 tunnels (Olympic News, 2014).

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Staging of the event:
Torch relay
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent off the Olympic flame. Post which, torch bearers
relay across 65000km, covering 83 regions of Russia in a span of 123 days. This sets off as the
journey of Olympic Games and is the longest relay in the history of Olympics (Bleach Report,
2014).
Opening Ceremony
Opening ceremony was witnessed by over 40000 spectators. The entire ceremony
showcased the beauty of Russian music to the rest of the world. For the ceremony alone, 37000
police officers were recruited to ensure the safe execution of the event (CNN, 2014).
Participating Countries
88 nations participated in the grand pomp and show of the event.
Sports
Figure skating, Skiing, Luge, Curling, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Cross Country
skiing, slope style skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, speed skating among others were the
sports hosted at the event
Medals
Russia, United States and Norway were the three countries with the highest number of
medals. Russia bagged 33 medals, USA 28 medals and Norway 26 medals. Of the countries that
won medals, Slovakia, Croatia and Kazakhstan stood last and received one medal each (ESPN,
2014).

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Broadcasting and filming
Domestic broadcasting rights were sold by sportfive to Channel one, VGTRK and NTV
plus. Several broadcasters also used the event as an opportunity to trial the emerging ultra-high
definition television.
Recommendations:
Post-Olympic usage of the park
For the sustainability of the event as a stakeholder, attention must be paid to how the
facilities built specifically for the purpose of the event can be used once the event is over. A lot
of money is spent on building the infrastructure and it must be ensured that they are effectively
utilized after the event. Currently the Sochi Olympic Park is in preparation to host FIFA 2018
next year.
Exceeding budget
The original budget for the entire event was a mere $12bn which was exceeded to a
preposterous $50bn. This goes on to show that either there is a lack of planning by the initial
budget committee or there are a number of unexpected expenses. Either of which is a fault which
must be avoided for a sustainable event. It is difficult to calculate the exact budget for such a big
event but this high level of difference is sure to raise questions as a stakeholder.
Venue Selection
There are lot of controversies around the city of Sochi as many Circassia organizations
objected on games being held on the lands of their ancestors despite the fact that Circassians
were vanquished in the Russian-Circassian war of 1864. They were removed from the country in
a genocide and conducting the event of such a large stature on their land was considered
insensitive.

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Referencing:
Bleach Report, 2014, ‘Olympic Torch Relay 2014: Full Route for Historic Flame's Journey to
Sochi’, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1801703-olympic-torch-relay-2014-full-route-
for-historic-flames-journey-to-sochi, viewed on 10 September, 2017.
Business Insider, 2014, ‘Why Sochi is by far the most expensive Olympics ever’,
http://www.businessinsider.in/Why-Sochi-Is-By-Far-The-Most-Expensive-Olympics-
Ever/articleshow/28977834.cms, viewed on 10 September, 2017.
CNN News, 2017, ‘2014 Sochi winter Olympics fast facts’,
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/14/world/2014-sochi-winter-olympics-fast-facts/
index.html, viewed on 10 September, 2017.
CNN, 2014, ‘Sochi 2014 begins with teams, classical music and a flying girl’,
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/07/world/europe/russia-sochi-winter-olympics/
index.html, viewed on 10 September, 2017.
ESPN, 2014, ‘Medal Tracker’, http://www.espn.com/olympics/winter/2014/medals, viewed on
10 September, 2017.
Forbes, 2016, ‘Recent concerns over the Olympic bidding process are not justified’,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leighsteinberg/2016/09/13/recent-concerns-over-the-
olympic-bidding-process-are-not-justified/#4f3afd81124c, viewed on 10 September,
2017.
National Geographic, 2014, ‘Sochi Powers Up: Bringing Energy to Site an Olympic Feat’,
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/02/140207-sochi-olympics-
energy-projects/, viewed on 10 September, 2017.
Olympic News, 2014, ‘SOCHI’S NEW TRANSPORT NETWORK KEEPING THE GAMES
RUNNING’, https://www.olympic.org/news/sochi-s-new-transport-network-keeping-the-
games-running, viewed on 10 September, 2017.

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Olympic, 2017, ’Organizing committee for the Olympic Games’, https://www.olympic.org/ioc-
governance-organising-committees, viewed on 9 September, 2017.
Sponsorship, 2014, ‘Sochi 2014 Olympic Sponsorships’, http://www.sponsorship.com/Latest-
Thinking/Sochi-2014-Olympic-Sponsorship-Insights.aspx, viewed on 10 September,
2017.
The Guardian, 2013, ‘Russia to monitor all communications at winter Olympics in Sochi’,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/06/russia-monitor-communications-sochi-
winter-olympics, viewed on 10 September, 2017.
YouTube, 2014, ‘The complete Sochi 2014 opening ceremony’,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKhuvril8Rs, viewed on 10 September, 2017.

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