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Sochi Olympic Villages open doors to 6,700 athletes - News
A view of the recently constructed Olympic village near the resort of Krasnaya Polyana, near Sochi (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)
JANUARY 30, 2014
Sochi Olympic Villages open doors to 6,700 athletes
With just over a week to go before the Winter Games, three of the Sochi’s Olympic villages are officially opening for athletes from all over the world on Thursday.
A total of 6,700 athletes arriving for the Sochi Games will be staying in the Coastal, Mountain and Additional Village, which are all located within minutes’ walk from the competition venues, RIA-Novosti news agency reports.
The Coastal compound, which can host up to 3,000 people, is the largest of all. It’ll become home to ice hockey and curling players, figure and speed skaters during the February 7-23 Olympics.
The complex includes 50 apartment blocks with 1,500 one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments, which offer a picturesque panoramic view of the Black Sea, the mountains and the Olympic Park.
Legendary pole vaulter Elena Isinbayeva, who brought Russia two golds at the 2012 Summer Olympics, has been selected to work as the Coastal Olympic Village mayor during the Games.
“It’s a great honor for me to be a mayor of the Olympic village. It’s a huge responsibility and a very important job,” Isinbayeva said. “I’ll do everything that depends on me for our Games to meet the highest standards and leave a mark in everybody’s heart.”
The foreign guests seem to be fully satisfied with the conditions provided by the Olympic Village.
“It’s a very big room in comparison with our previous experience. I’m sure the athletes are going to like it because it’s comfortable and clean here and everything has a modern touch to it,” the head administrator of the Hungarian Olympic delegation told Expert magazine.
A total of 2,600 more athletes will live in the Mountain Village, which is situated at Krasnaya Polyana, some 1,100 meters above sea level.
The highland compound, consisting of 50 apartment blocks with a varying number of floors, will welcome skiers, snowboarders and freestylers.
The Olympic participants will be accommodated at different altitudes, according to where they will be competing, to help them acclimatize and produce their best results.
Turin 2006 speed skating champion, Svetlana Zhurova, will act as the mayor of the Mountain Village during the Olympics.
The Additional Village is also built in the mountains, close to the Laura Cross-Ski and Biathlon Center.
The lone-standing compound with its own hotel, apartments and a cottage settlement will offer a total of 1,100 suites.
Each of the three Olympic villages will be turned into apartment blocks or become part of corresponding ski resorts after the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Sochi 2014 organizers said.
