Sochi Olympic Park

Coordinates: 43°24′20″N 39°57′17″E / 43.4056472°N 39.9545917°E / 43.4056472; 39.9545917 (Sochi Olympic Park)
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43°24′20″N 39°57′17″E / 43.4056472°N 39.9545917°E / 43.4056472; 39.9545917 (Sochi Olympic Park)

Sochi Olympic Park
Aerial view of Sochi Olympic Park in 2018
Map
Addressул. Просвещения, Bolshoy Sochi, Krasnodar Krai
LocationSirius, Sochi, Russia.
TypeOlympic Park
Construction
Built2007-2013
Website
Olympic Park

Sochi Olympic Park (Russian: Олимпийский парк Сочи) is an Olympic Park in Sochi, Russia. It situated in the urban-type settlement of Sirius in Imeretinsky Valley, on the coast of the Black Sea. The Olympic Park houses the main Olympic Stadium used for the Games' ceremonies, and the venues that were used for indoor sports such as hockey, figure skating, curling, and speed skating. It also houses training facilities, the Olympic Village, the international broadcasting centre, and other amenities. The park was designed so that all of the venues would be accessible within walking distance of each other. The venues are situated around a water basin containing a fountain known as "The Waters of the Olympic Park".[1][2]

History[edit]

Construction of the complex in the Imereti Lowlands began in 2007. The Imereti Lowlands was an important bird area protected since 1911, most of which was destroyed during the construction. Most of the venues were completed by 2013. The Olympic Park was until 2019 located in the Adlersky City District of Sochi. However, in 2019 it was transferred into the newly established urban-type settlement of Sirius.

Facilities[edit]

Panoramic view of Sochi Olympic Park around the time of the 2014 games

Current[edit]

Map of the Olympic Park during the 2014 Olympic Games, with all venues gathered around the Medals Plaza (Note: This map does not include the Sochi Autodrom, which was not finished at the time of the Olympics. This map also does not account for any other post-game modifications to the Olympic Park. While included in the map, the cemetery is not labeled)

Other Facilities[edit]

Sochi Park
  • Olympic Village: The main Olympic Village of the 2014 games is within the Olympic Park. It was built by Basic Element. The village consists of 47 buildings and is designed for three thousand people. Athletes, journalists and members of the Olympic family were housed there. Plans are for the Olympic Village be an off-season resort complex Sochnoye' ("Juicy").[12]
  • Sochi Medals Plaza: This plaza previously accommodated 20,000 standing spectators[10] for the victory ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic games. Portions of the venue now remain as a legacy feature of the Olympic Park.
  • Sochi Media Center: This venue served as the IBC for the 2014 Olympic games. Also hosted the World Chess Championship 2014. There have been plans to transform the media center into a shopping mall for a more sustainable post-games use.[4]
  • Sochi Park: A theme park themed around the history and culture of Russia, Sochi Park is the country's first theme park. The park is 20.5 hectares, and features its own adventure park, and a hotel complex which is themed to a medieval-era castle. The park first opened only to spectators and athletes of the Olympic Games (during which it received 140,000 visitors). The park was opened to the general public on International Children's Day 1 June 2014, with an official opening on 28 June 2014.
Temporary structures[edit]

A range of temporary pavilions and other facilities were erected during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, including:

  • The Microsoft Pavilion: A modular building designed by the Nowadays Office architectural firm. Wooden slats featuring the colour scheme of the Microsoft logo formed the basis of the design, producing a moire effect.[13]
Cemetery[edit]

Within the Olympic Park lies a 2-acre cemetery, which predates the Olympic venues by nearly a century. The cemetery, which dates back to 1915, contains the graves of individuals that belonged to the Old Believers faith. The cemetery is located between the Iceberg Skating Palace, Fisht Stadium, and the medals plaza. It is located in a circular grove, but is largely obscured by plants. During the Olympic and Paralympic games, Canada and the United States had National Houses located near the graveyard on the end opposite to the medals plaza. Dmitry Chernyshenko, the president and CEO of the Sochi Organizing Committee, claimed in a September 2013 New York Times interview that the cemetery was retained both in good-will, and due to Russian law forbidding the moving of the graves. A cemetery needs to have had no new burials for at least a half-century, and only through the decision of relatives of those buried could a cemetery be considered for relocation. Burials are still ongoing at the cemetery.[14][15][16]

Former[edit]

  • Hockey Training Rink- This was a training venue for Ice Hockey during the Olympics
  • Ice Skating Training Rink -This was a training venue for Figure Skating during the Olympics

Transportation[edit]

Olympic Park railway station

On the north end of the Olympic Park is the Olympic Village Station, and on the south end of the Olympic Park is the Olympic Park Station (the main transit hub of the Olympic Park). Both stations are stops on the Abkhazian railway. Just south of the Olympic Park is the M27 highway.

For the Olympics, a railway line was built connecting the Olympic Village with the airport, Sochi Olympic Village, central Sochi, and the station in Krasnaya Polyana (home to the mountain-cluster of Olympic venues). A highway was also built alongside this to further connect the Olympic Park to this area.

The Olympic Park was originally going to be serviced by several stations along the planned Sochi Light Metro, before that project was cancelled.

Events[edit]

Football[edit]

Date Time (Moscow Time Zone) Round Team No. 1 Res. Team No. 2 Spectators
19 June 2017 (2017-06-19) 18:00 Group B  Australia 2–3  Germany 28,605
21 June 2017 (2017-06-21) 21:00 Group A  Mexico 2–1  New Zealand 25,133
25 June 2017 (2017-06-25) 18:00 Group B  Germany 3–1  Cameroon 30,230
29 June 2017 (2017-06-29) 21:00 Semi-finals  Germany 4–1  Mexico 37,923
Date Time (Moscow Time Zone) Round Team No. 1 Res. Team No. 2 Spectators
15 June 2018 (2018-06-15) 21:00 Group B  Portugal 3-3  Spain TBD
18 June 2018 (2018-06-18) 18:00 Group G  Belgium 3-0  Panama
23 June 2018 (2018-06-23) 21:00 Group F  Germany 2-1  Sweden
26 June 2018 (2018-06-26) 17:00 Group C  Australia 0-2  Peru
30 June 2018 (2018-06-30) 21:00 Round of 16  Uruguay 2-1  Portugal
7 July 2018 (2018-07-07) 21:00 Quarter-finals  Russia 1(3)-1(4)  Croatia

Motor racing[edit]

Motor racing events held at the Sochi Autodrom:

References[edit]

  1. ^ Madler, Mark (24 February 2014). "WET Design Runs Rings Around Rivals". San Fernando Business Journal. Los Angeles, California: California Business Journals. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  2. ^ "California-based WET makes the waters dance at Sochi". Gizmag. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  3. ^ Sochi2014.com profile of the Olympic Oval. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Vasilyeva, Nataliya (2 February 2014). "Medvedev calls for plan for post-Olympic Sochi venues". canada.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  5. ^ Wolken, Dan (22 February 2014). "Architect: Sochi Olympics unique hockey roof is 'our pride'". USA Today. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  6. ^ Sochi2014.com profile of the Bolshoi Ice Palace. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  7. ^ Sochi2014.com profile of Central Stadium. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  8. ^ "FIFA Picks Cities for World Cup 2018". RIA Novosti, Moscow. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  9. ^ Sochi2014.com profile of the Olympic Curling Centre. Archived 24 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 31 December 2010.
  10. ^ a b Sochi2014.com profile of the Sochi Olympic Skating Centre. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  11. ^ Sochi2014.com profile of the Maly Ice Palace. Accessed 31 December 2010.
  12. ^ Данилович, Елена (19 September 2012). "Дорогая необходимость". kommersant.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  13. ^ "Microsoft pavilion takes its cues from the Windows 8 interface". Dezeen. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  14. ^ DiManno, Rosie (17 February 2014). "Cemetery tucked away in Sochi's Olympic Park gets few visitors". Toronto Star. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  15. ^ Branch, John (19 August 2013). "Cemetery Left in Peace in City Remade by Olympics". New York Times. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  16. ^ Wharton, David (20 February 2014). "Sochi Winter Games: Amid Olympic venues, a cemetery rests in peace". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  17. ^ "Russian Figure Skating Championships start in Sochi". vestnikkavkaza.net. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  18. ^ Hnatyuk, Vyacheslav (29 January 2015). "KHL All Stars Played in Sochi Last Sunday". thehockeywriters.com. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  19. ^ "Dates for 2015 SportAccord International Convention in Sochi announced". 25 August 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  20. ^ "Sochi to host 2015 SportAccord International Convention". 22 July 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  21. ^ "New Wave Contest to be held at Olympic Park in Sochi". vestnikkaykaza.net. Vestnik Kavkaza. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  22. ^ Russian Stars beat World Stars in VTB League All Star game.