Opening and closing of the Olympic Games. XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi

The Fisht stadium in Sochi hosted a colorful and technically ambitious opening ceremony for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The show was based on an excursion into the history of Russia and a ballet performance based on Natasha Rostova's ball, and a view of our planet from space was projected onto a special floor of the arena.

Spectators who came to watch the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, February 7.

Sunset over the Olympic Park.

The ceremony began at a symbolic time - 20:14. The show was created by a creative team led by Channel One CEO Konstantin Ernst.

The main theme of the performance is "Dreams about Russia", and the main character is a girl named Lyubov. By the way, this is it, hovering over the arena on the ropes.

A little girl (she is seen in the frame, hovering over the stadium) sees in a dream Russia and its history in different periods.

Islands and volcanoes float around the arena. Sailing Chukotka with deer and yurts. Actors appear from the fog, symbolizing the peoples inhabiting Russia. Huge hanging decorations. It looked really great.

Then 5 huge snowflakes increased and turned into Olympic rings.

Vladimir Putin on the podium. Next to him is the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach.

After that, athletes from different countries with flags began to enter the stage. The organizers promised the audience in advance that they would not be bored even during the most conservative part of the ceremony - the sportsmen's parade. By tradition, the founders of the Olympic Games, the Greeks, began the parade.

The parade of athletes was turned into an unusual disco with a DJ and dance music. Team Germany.

Russian team. They go out to the song "Tatu" "They won't catch up with us."

The Austrian team enters the arena.

Russian team. She was the last one out.

Then the show continued. A Russian troika floats over the stadium.

Then the great reformer of Russia, Peter the Great, appeared before the public with amusing regiments and, even more surprisingly, with the navy - with the help of computer effects, they managed to achieve the complete illusion that frigates and galleys plied the stadium.

Pay attention to the special floor, on which the view of our planet from space was projected. It looked very powerful and unusual

Whale. Actors and scenery form a giant whale.

Russian carnival called Maslenitsa!

Cosmonauts with the spacecraft "Vostok".

Lyubov, already familiar to us (actually Liza Temnikova), releases the red ball of communism.

Not without ballet, in terms of which we are ahead of the rest. It was the first ball of Natasha Rostova from War and Peace. The main roles in the reconstruction were played by the great Vladimir Vasilyev and the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Svetlana Zakharova.

The first ball of Natasha Rostova. Svetlana Zakharova and Ivan Vasiliev.

End of the first ball of Natasha Rostova from War and Peace. A very beautiful performance.

The sounds of the waltz and mazurka were replaced by the energetic music of Georgy Sviridov for the film "Time Forward!". Spotlights flooded the stage with red - the color of the revolution. catchy Soviet newspapers were projected onto the floor.

Machine Revolution:

One of the mascots of the 2014 Games is Bunny.

In total, as you know, Sochi-2014 has three mascots - Leopard, Polar Bear and Bunny. Here they are in all their glory at the Fisht stadium. They are animatronic robots.

The presentation continues.

Athletes soar above the Olympic Stadium.

The magical show is over. Athletes appear in the arena and carry a torch to the bowl to light the fire of the Games. The first was tennis player Maria Sharapova.

The fire of the Games was lit by Vladislav Tretiak and Irina Rodnina.

The fire of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The show came to an end, fireworks began over the Olympic Stadium.

The world praised the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The Bulgarian media gave the most enthusiastic reviews.

“The hype around these $51 billion Olympic Games was perhaps more than any other event in recent history and had nothing to do with sports.”

British media awarded the opening ceremony of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi with the epithets "amazing", "exciting" and "unforgettable".

“Russia opened the Games in Sochi with chic and pride. The story was told - from the tsarist military power to Soviet monumentalism and space flight.

"Impressive, the best show I've ever seen." (American skier Eric Fisher)

"Great spectacle, based on sports, not politics." (Swiss media)

And indeed, enough politics, let's watch the Olympic Games and cheer for our athletes. Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, February 7.

On February 7 at 20:14 the solemn opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi took place! The bright and colorful ceremony was held at the brand new Fisht stadium, which will also host the closing ceremony. The main focus of the presentation at the opening Olympic Games was made on an excursion into the history of Russia, and the audience was shown a ballet performance based on the ball of Natasha Rostova, and a view of our planet from space was projected onto the arena. Congratulations to everyone and we invite you to see this significant event in photographs.

Spectators who came to watch the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, February 7.

Sunset over the Olympic Park.

The ceremony began at a symbolic time - 20:14. The show was created by a creative team led by Channel One CEO Konstantin Ernst.

The Olympic village looked very cool at the time of opening, Sochi, February 7, 2014

The main theme of the performance is "Dreams about Russia", and the main character is a girl named Lyubov. By the way, this is she, hovering over the arena on a cable

A little girl (seen in the frame, hovering over the stadium) dreams of Russia and its history in different periods

Then 5 huge snowflakes increased and turned into the Olympic rings.

Vladimir Putin on the podium. Next to him is the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach.

After that, athletes from different countries with flags began to enter the stage. The organizers promised the audience in advance that they would not be bored even during the most conservative part of the ceremony - the sportsmen's parade. According to tradition, the founders of the Olympic Games, the Greeks, began the parade

The parade of athletes was turned into an unusual disco with a DJ and dance music. Germany national team

Russian team. They go out to the song "Tatu" "They won't catch up with us"

The Austrian team enters the arena

Russian team. She left last

Then the show continued. A Russian troika floats over the stadium

Pay attention to the special floor of the stadium, on which something was projected all the time: a view of our planet from space, ships in the sea. It looked very powerful and unusual

Whale. Actors and scenery form a giant whale

Carnival holiday is being read

Cosmonauts with the Vostok spacecraft

Love, already familiar to us (actually Liza Temnikova), releases the red ball of communism

The first ball of Natasha Rostova. Svetlana Zakharova and Ivan Vasiliev

End of the first ball of Natasha Rostova from War and Peace. Very beautiful performance

Machine revolution

One of the mascots of the 2014 Games - Bunny

In total, as you know, Sochi-2014 has three mascots - Leopard, Polar Bear and Bunny. Here they are in all their glory at the Fisht stadium. They are animatronic robots.

The performance continues

Athletes hover over the Olympic Stadium

The magical show is over. Athletes appear in the arena and carry a torch to the bowl to light the fire of the Games. The first was tennis player Maria Sharapova

The Fire of the Games was lit by Vladislav Tretyak and Irina Rodnina

Fire of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

The show came to an end, fireworks began over the Olympic Stadium

The world praised the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Bulgarian media gave the most enthusiastic reviews

"The hype surrounding this $51 billion Olympic Games was perhaps more than any other event in recent history and had nothing to do with sports."

The British media awarded the opening ceremony of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi with the epithets "amazing", "exciting" and "unforgettable"

"Russia opened the Sochi Games with glamor and pride. The story was told, from Tsarist military power to Soviet monumentalism and spaceflight" - New York Times

"Impressive, the best show I've ever seen" - American skier Eric Fischer

"Great spectacle based on sport, not politics" - Swiss media

The time has come for total winter sports! Let's support our athletes and cheer for our country! Forward to victories!

[:RU]We offer you the 2nd part of bright photos from the opening ceremony of the XXII Olympic Games in Sochi. Watch and enjoy.

More than 3,000 young talents are participating in the mass production scenes, which will show dance, ballet, acrobatic and circus numbers.

The opening of the Sochi Olympics was produced by the general director of Channel One, Konstantin Ernst. The director of the show was Andrey Boltenko, who made the Moscow Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 and a number of projects of the First, and several wonderful people helped him at once. For example, set designer Georgy Tsypin, choreographer from the Cirque du Soleil Shana Carroll and make-up artist (from the same place) Natalie Simrad. And that's not all - Ernst gathered a considerable team.

Georgy Tsypin - stage designer, artist, architect. Participated in the Venice Biennale in 2002. He designed performances at the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Paris National Opera, La Scala in Milan, Covent Garden, and at the Salzburg Festival.

Collaborated with the St. Petersburg Mariinsky - there he worked on the operas "War and Peace", "The Gambler" by Prokofiev, "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky, "Siegfried", "The Death of the Gods" by Wagner. At the Bolshoi Theater he staged the opera Turandot by Puccini, and in 2004 he took part in the first production at the Bolshoi Theater of S. Prokofiev's opera The Fiery Angel. Tsypin was the production designer for the Broadway musicals The Little Mermaid and Spider-man: Turn off the Dark (the most expensive musical in history). Serious master, in general.

The details of the ceremony were kept in the deepest secrecy. However, the organizers managed to completely preserve the intrigue only in a few moments: either the invited stars will not stand it and share their joy with fans (and millions of Internet users) on Twitter or social networks, or the audience of dress rehearsals, despite strict non-disclosure agreements, will tell something.

It is known that the opening ceremony will last 160 minutes. In total, more than 12,000 people are involved in the implementation of the opening ceremony of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014. More than 3,000 artists will take part in mass production scenes, including dance, ballet, acrobatic and circus numbers. 6,000 costumes were made for the ceremony participants.

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, athletes will climb the stage on a special 48-meter ramp located in the center of the stadium. More than 3000 participants of the Olympiad will take part in the parade of nations, representing 88 delegations. The Olympic cauldron will be lit by a torch that has been in space.

Teams go to alphabetical order, established in the host country of the Games, that is, this time - in the order of the Russian alphabet. Australians habitually act as the second after Greece. Not like in Beijing, where, due to the peculiarities of local characters, they had to go out with 202s.

Hong Kong participates in the Olympic Games separately from the Chinese team, but their confrontation with the Chinese, of course, is not as intense as that of the Taiwanese. Indeed, it is more about Summer Games, and more specifically - table tennis.

The Canadians painted the field of the Fisht Stadium red with their suits. The flag of the great hockey country is carried by the representative of this particular ice sport - Haley Wickenheiser.

To the left of Putin, and to the right for the audience, stands Irina Skvortsova, a bobsledder who was injured in 2009 in Germany during a training descent. Doctors thought that she would never be able to walk, but now she cheerfully keeps near the president.

The role of the Snow Maiden accompanying our team is Russian model Irina Shayk. The standard-bearer of our country is 39-year-old bobsledder Alexander Zubkov. This Olympics will be his third in professional career. He previously won silver and bronze at the Turin and Vancouver Games, respectively. In addition, he has the gold of the 2011 World Championship and four awards of the highest standard at the European Championships.

As the team walks down the catwalk, a map of the Earth projected onto the arena displays the name of the country and shows its position on the map.

flag bearer election Russian team at some point turned into a problem. One athlete refused, then another. Yes, there is a legend that the national flag brings bad luck. But she is from the same series that the Russian national football team loses only because Viktor Gusev commentates on her matches. The same Evgeni Plushenko and Ivan Skobrev refused the role of standard-bearer for completely objective reasons.

The British come out in some kind of Soviet hats with earflaps. Spectators at the stadium in bunny hats.

An unusual theatrical show at the opening of the Winter Games in Albertville was made in 1992 by the famous artist and choreographer Philippe Decoufle. His success led to a race to make his performance better, more magnificent and more solemn than it was last time. The task, to put it mildly, is not an easy one.

In 2012, director of the London Olympics opening ceremony, Danny Boyle, said Beijing put on such a mind-blowing performance that it's hard to beat. Boyle chose to captivate audiences with content rather than the visual concept of the show. By the way, Boyle is not the only director who was assigned the ceremony. In 2008, the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing was staged by the world-famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou.

Russian oligarch R. Abramovich at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

Each team is accompanied by colorful Snow Maidens in headdresses resembling branched deer antlers.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

40,000 spectators are watching the ceremony from the stands of the Fisht stadium.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

The flag of Azerbaijan was supposed to be carried by Fuad Guliyev, the prime minister of the country in 1995–1996. But then he was replaced by Patrick Brachner, a naturalized skier.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

“Good evening, Sochi!”, “Good evening, Russia!” - the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, welcomes everyone in Russian, Olympic champion 1976 in fencing.

The Olympic symbols are giant robotic figures. Very realistic move, even scary. How alive. And they blink.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

A relative of the Queen of Great Britain at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the mascots of the Sochi 2014 Olympics were chosen through an open universal vote, following which largest number received votes Polar bear, Leopard and Bunny. Vladimir Putin supported the Leopard, Dmitry Medvedev liked the White Bear more. More than 270 thousand people took part in the voting. In total, 24,048 works were sent to the competition.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

In the role of Natasha Rostova - prima of the Bolshoi Theater Svetlana Zakharova. Her father is Vladimir Vasilyev, Andrey Bolkonsky is Danila Korsuntsev, Pierre Bezukhov is Alexander Petukhov, the war hero is Ivan Vasilyev.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Russian President Vladimir Putin watch the opening ceremony XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi

Olympic anthem performed by opera diva Anna Netrebko.

Canadians in Vancouver 2010 dedicated a ceremony to the Georgian bobsledder Nodar Kumaritashvili who died on the opening day of the games, managing to rebuild the ceremony, adjusted to the centimeter and second, in a few hours. They nevertheless presented the country in full.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

225 people in the column of the Russian team.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

Actress Chulpan Khamatova, hockey player Vyacheslav Fetisov, speed skater Lidia Skoblikova, journalist Anastasia Popova, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, director Nikita Mikhalkov, conductor Valery Gergiev and racing driver Alan Enileev carry the Olympic flag around the stadium.

In the US, old age is respected. The star-striped flag is carried by the Nordic combined athlete Todd Loddwick, who arrived at the sixth Olympics.

Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

The last two parts of the performance are called "Dove of Peace" and "Olympic Gods". As the organizers explain, in the world of symbols, including the Olympic ones, the dove occupies a place of honor. Therefore, the dizzying choreography performed by the world-famous Vishneva, combined with modern technologies will create a unique image of a magic dove.

The prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Diana Vishneva appears on the stage to the music of P. I. Tchaikovsky.

Russian tennis player and Olympic medalist Maria Sharapova carries the Olympic torch at the Fisht Olympic Stadium on February 7, 2014.

The lighting of the Olympic flame in the Olympic chalice at the end of the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Fireworks against the backdrop of the lit Olympic flame at the end of the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

The Olympic flame burns.

In February 2014 in Russia will pass Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014, these Winter Olympic Games are the twenty-second in a row. In Russia, the Olympics will be held for the second time and for the first time the Winter Olympics. Prior to that, in 1980, Moscow, the then capital of the USSR, hosted the XXII Summer Olympics.

The opening ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympics will take place on February 7, and the closing ceremony of the Sochi Olympics on February 23, 2014, and promises to be a hot battlefield. At the end Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014, the same arenas will host the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games from 7 to 16 March.

If you are not interested in all the details and history of the Winter Olympic Games, but only need the results and medals of the Olympics, then please go to the following link:

Choosing a City to Host the Winter Olympics 2014

On June 22, 2006, Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, named three of the seven candidate cities, which were Salzburg (Austria), Sochi (Russia) and Pyeongchang ( South Korea). It is worth noting that Borjomi (Georgia), Haka (Spain), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan) also expressed their desire to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

On July 4, 2007, at the regular 119th session of the International Olympic Committee, which was held in Guatemala, a choice was made. Sochi became a candidate to host the 2014 Olympics.

Immediately before the voting itself, presentations of candidate cities were presented. Sochi was represented by athletes: Evgeni Plushenko, Svetlana Zhurova, Alexander Popov and Mikhail Terentiev (Paralympic athlete), sports functionaries: Shamil Tarpishchev, Elena Anikina, Vyacheslav Fetisov, Vitaly Smirnov, Dmitry Chernyshenko; politicians: Vladimir Putin, German Gref, Alexander Zhukov, Viktor Kolodyazhny and Alexander Tkachev.

After the first round, which was attended by 97 representatives of the countries of the International Olympic Committee, Salzburg dropped out. In the second round, Sochi, ahead of Pyeongchang by 4 votes, won. Thus, Russia will host the Winter Olympic Games for the first time.

Emblem and mascots of the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014

Emblem

The Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014 will be held on a grand scale. We love and know how to splurge

On December 1, 2009, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee presented the emblem of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The ceremony for this occasion was held in Moscow on Red Square, flooded with a large skating rink. The emblem of the Sochi 2014 Olympics was presented under fantastic fireworks. It is a blue-and-white inscription sochi2014.ru, under which the Olympic rings are located, and is the first emblem in history that also indicates the web address of the current site. Mirror projection of the word Sochi and 2014 means mountains reflected in the Black Sea. The white background of the emblem of the Sochi 2014 Olympics was chosen by the designers for a reason. This was done with the aim that everyone could not only change the color, but also add elements at their own discretion.

Talismans

Winter Olympic Games in Sochi 2014. The mascots are ordinary, but the bear was repainted from the 1980 Olympics 🙂

On September 1, 2010, the organizing committee of the Sochi 2014 Olympics announced a mascot competition in which everyone could take part. A total of 24,048 works were submitted for the competition. Voting was held on the official website of the mascots of the Olympic Games in Sochi. Until December 2010, Mittens and Zoich, who were not included in the final list, received the most votes. Prior to this, Pedobear was the leader of the voting.

On February 26, 2011, the Organizing Committee of the Winter Olympics in Sochi decided to make not one, but three characters, the Leopard, the Bunny and the White Bear, the official mascots.

Snowflake and Ray became the mascots of the 2014 Paralympic Games.

It is worth noting that, along with the victors, the Sun, Brown Bear, Snow Girl, Fire Boy, Bullfinch, Dolphin and Matryoshka also claimed victory in the competition.

Preparation for the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014

For the organization of the Olympics in Sochi 2014, the then Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov was appointed responsible, however, since October 2008, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak was reassigned responsible. In August 2007, the President approved the draft Federal Target Program for the Development of Sports in Russia, which had the code name "Result".

Construction of facilities and infrastructure for the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2012 is carried out in accordance with the Federal Target Program by the state corporation Olympstroy. Completion of construction work is scheduled for 2012-2013.

In accordance with the target program for the development of Sochi, it is planned to allocate and invest 327.2 billion rubles, of which 7.1 billion rubles should be allocated from the budget Krasnodar Territory, and 192.4 billion rubles will be financed from the federal budget.
From extrabudgetary sources, including private investors, funding will be distributed as follows: Olympic venues - $500 million, tourism infrastructure - $2,600 million, energy conservation facilities - $100 million and transport infrastructure - $270 million.

Already in 2006, 4.9 billion rubles were financed from the federal budget, in 2007 - 15.9 billion rubles. In 2008 it was planned to allocate 31.5 billion rubles from the budget, in 2009 - 27.2 billion rubles, in 2010 - 22.3 billion rubles, in 2011 - 27.2 billion rubles, in 2012 - 26.4 billion rubles, in 2013 - 22.2 billion rubles and 8.5 billion rubles - in 2014.

But in January 2008, it was officially announced that this program for the development of the city of Sochi for 2006-2014 was being curtailed. It will be replaced by a seven-year program for the development of Sochi and the construction of facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

In accordance with the requirements of the International Olympic Committee for the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014, 14 large sports facilities should be built, which will provide accommodation for 200,000 seats. Now they are divided into three categories, according to their further use. 8 objects will remain sports. Of the remaining six, four are planned to be dismantled and transported to other regions in the future, the other two are to be redeveloped.

Among other things, the draft target program includes the creation of an infocommunication center that will provide broadcasting in the HDTV standard via three communication satellites to foreign countries.

Also, by 2012 it is planned to supply gas to all settlements adjacent to the Olympic zone. A remote terminal with a capacity of up to three thousand people will be built in the seaport of Sochi. The terminal will be located 1.5 kilometers from the coast. It is planned to move the cargo area of the port from the city center.

The city authorities of Sochi are planning to ban non-resident vehicles from entering the city. This is due to the construction of transport routes and sports facilities for the Winter Olympics 2014. Today, all the necessary conditions are being provided for the upcoming Olympics in Sochi, namely, hotels and new sport complexes territories are being improved, roads are being widened.

Already in almost finished form in the Imeretinskaya Valley there is a large Ice Arena. Four thousand tons of concrete, glass and metal went into its external construction. Inside there are two ice fields, 16 dressing rooms, transformer platforms, stands with easy chairs. And in two years, hockey players will compete for Olympic gold here.

At the Fisht Olympic Stadium, named after the peak of the Caucasus, the installation of the roof has begun. After the work is completed, it will justify its name and will be like a snow-capped peak. The Palace of Winter Sports has recently been covered with a roof, which will host competitions in short track and figure skating. Inside, only finishing work remains to be done.

Two years left before the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014, however Olympic Park still resembles a large construction site with thousands of workers hard at work in three shifts.

Winter Olympics program in Sochi 2014

The program of the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 will be replenished with three new sports. The International Olympic Committee approved the inclusion of new sports in freestyle, snowboarding and parallel slalom into the Olympic Games program. Thus, the number of medals was increased.

At the Executive Committee, the International Olympic Committee decided to include the following new disciplines in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games Program: parallel slalom in snowboarding, slopestyle in snowboarding and slopestyle in freestyle. In each sport, both women's and men's competitions will be held.

According to the President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, last years slopestyle has become very popular. This type of competition enables snowboarders and skiers to perform acrobatic jumps on pyramids, springboards, railings, darts, counter slopes. But it should be noted that the Association skiing and snowboarding USA has played a pivotal role in the advancement of slopestyle. It is the Americans in these disciplines that are considered the main contenders for victory.

In addition, medals will also be awarded in six new types of programs, such as women's ski jumping, team luge, team figure skating, ski half-pipe (men and women), mixed biathlon relay.
Thus, 98 sets of awards will be played at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and competitions will be held in the following sports: Biathlon, Skeleton, Bobsleigh, Curling, Figure skating, Skating, Short track, Nordic combined, Alpine skiing, Snowboarding, Ski jumping, Ski race, Luge, Freestyle and Hockey.
In addition, from February 7 to 23, 2014, demonstration competitions in bandy will be held as part of the World Championship.

Objects of the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014

The Sochi 2014 Olympics will leave behind useful sports objects, hotels and developed infrastructure

The main Olympic venues in Sochi are located in two zones: coastal and mountainous, the distance between which is about 50 km. Infrastructure facilities and an Olympic village are being built in each zone. The mountain zone is located in Krasnaya Polyana and includes a snowboard park, ski jumps, ski resorts, a bobsleigh track and freestyle.

From February 25 to March 7, 2012 on ski resort Rosa Khutor held test competitions. The coastal zone is located in Adler. Its central object will be the Olympic Park, which will unite park area and all sports facilities. For the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics, all ice rinks will be within walking distance of each other.

The Olympic Park can accommodate 70,000 visitors. The opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic competitions will be held in it. The park will also host competitions for figure skaters, hockey players, speed skaters and the awarding of Olympic winners. main objects Olympic park are Olympic Stadium, an ice palace, a large and a small arena, a skating center, an outdoor skating rink, a curling arena, training arenas and an Olympic village.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014, as well as the awarding of the winners of the Olympic Games, will be held at the Olympic Stadium.
The performances of the skaters will take place in ice palace, which can accommodate 12 thousand spectators. Large and small arenas, which will host hockey competitions, also have a similar capacity.

The skating center is smaller in capacity and has 8,000 spectators. In the territory Olympic Village participants of the Olympic competitions will live. In order to be able to watch all the competitions, they plan to install large screens. Among other things, excursions will be organized for those wishing to see the Olympic facilities.

Olympic money

For the Olympics in Sochi 2014, in addition to commemorative coins with the symbols of the Olympic Games, it is planned to issue new banknotes - paper Olympic money, a denomination of one of the denominations of 50, 100 or 500 rubles. Up to this point, Russia has never issued paper money with Olympic symbols. For the first time, Olympic commemorative money was issued to Olympic competition in Beijing 2008. Therefore, Russia has a chance to become the second country to issue a commemorative banknote for the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014.

This Friday Sochi hosted the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games at the Fisht Stadium. The show broke all records: it lasted 3 hours, and the TV audience, according to the IOC, is estimated at 3 billion viewers. According to opposition politician Alexei Navalny, all the Winter Olympic Games that took place from 1924 to 2011 cost a total of 35 billion euros, while the Sochi Olympics alone cost the country 40 billion euros. It is quite natural that both Russians and foreigners with increased attention were waiting for the final result - an unprecedented winter Olympics in the subtropics and the opening ceremony. Negative forecasts were made about the performance of Stas Mikhailov, who set the teeth on edge with nesting dolls and Cossacks with folk songs against sodomites. It worked out. Here is what Konstantin Ernst, the main boss of Russia in terms of spectacles on a planetary scale - from Eurovision to the Olympics, told the press about the ceremony: “We decided to tell in clear language and uncomplicated means how we see Russia and what kind of country it is. We have traveled deep into the history of our country for a long period, and we would like more than anything for the audience to feel our love. It's great if millions of viewers are imbued with this emotion ... we will not load international viewers with any topics that are of interest only to Russians."

The ceremony was amazing. More than 3,000 people took part in the show at the Fisht stadium, for whom more than 6,000 costumes were made. Yes, the corporate identity of Cirque du Soleil was easily read in individual elements of the performance, which is not surprising, given the work in Sochi of as many as 3 professionals of the legendary show, and the overall outline of the story really looked like the Olympics in London. At the very beginning of the performance, the audience saw several video clips about Russia, and the show itself began with a great video "Azbuka". The girl Lyuba falls asleep, the alphabet falls and the story begins with Cyril and Methodius, sorting through the most significant phenomena and people in the history of the country and suddenly ... Lyuba wakes up and, taking off on the lounges to the very top of the stadium, begins her amazing flight across Russia, which floats under her in the fog - Kamchatka, the Urals, Sochi and the Arctic Ocean.

Then there was a long history of Russia, which the directors showed by mixing reality and a dream: Kitezh-grad, Chud, Peter I, Natasha Rostova’s ball, revolution, paintings by Chagall and Malevich, industrialization, a trio bird, where each horse, silently soaring under the dome, weighed 2 tons, the flight of the first man into space, the Russian avant-garde, dudes and Uncle Styopa performed by the giant Valuev. Perhaps the most touching moment of the ceremony was the grandiose ball from "War and Peace", for which the great Vladimir Viktorovich Vasiliev danced again. According to one of the ideas, during the ball of Natasha Rostova, a giant chandelier was to descend from under the dome, on which Gergiev would stand and conduct the orchestra. It's good that the chandelier remained in stock. Of the oddities, it is worth noting the dance of phosphorescent jellyfish led by the brilliant Diana Vishneva. Only towards the end of the number was it explained to the audience that Vishneva was dancing to Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" number "Dove of Peace". Where are the pigeons, and where are the jellyfish, it is hardly worth explaining. The teams of the participating countries entered the stadium in the middle of the arena, turned into a giant screen, which was an innovation in Russia, however, empty seats for spectators behind the heads of the exiting athletes were hardly pleasant. There were very few close-ups, and the most successful of the technological moments of the show shown to the viewer was the departure at the height of a multi-storey building of a steam locomotive of the 30s to the work of Georgy Sviridov “Time, forward!”.

The audience saw an excellent fairy tale about the history of Russia in an export version and with special effects, made by real professionals. Here are just the facts:

1. Representatives of 88 countries took part in the parade of nations, which is 6 countries more than four years ago in Vancouver!

2. A total of 98 sets of awards will be played - 12 more than in 2010.

3. The Olympic anthem was performed by opera diva Anna Netrebko.

4. Maria Sharapova carried the Olympic flame to the stadium.

5. For the first time in the history of the opening of the games, a show was shown in 5D, which combined video projections about the history of St. Petersburg on a giant screen, which was the stadium, live dancers and special effects that allowed virtual guns to really shoot.

6. Deputy Nikolai Valuev acted as Uncle Styopa, playing the character of the Soviet writer Sergei Mikhalkov. The politician and athlete was dressed in a white police uniform and was directing traffic at the crossroads.

7. Symbols of the Olympics - Mishka, Bunny and Leopard several meters high moved so gracefully and winked at the dumbfounded spectators that I could not recover and at first mistook them for computer animation.

8. 225 Russian athletes will go to Sochi and this is a record for our team.
9. 42 years old is the age of our most experienced athlete, luger Albert Demchenko, who will go to his 7th Olympics.

10. 22.5 years - average age athletes of our team, which is 3.5 years younger (the average age of our athletes in Vancouver 2010 was 26 years).

11. 15 years old is the youngest athlete - figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya. And we can already congratulate the young heroine - Yulia won short program, receiving 72.90 points from the judges, which is her personal best!

12. This is already the 4th Olympics for the figure skater Plushenko, who has two "silver" and "gold" in his piggy bank.

13. The countries with the largest number of participants were:

USA - 230
Russia - 225
Canada - 220
Switzerland - 163
Germany - 155
Austria - 130
Norway - 118
France - 114
Japan - 113
Italy - 113

14. Some "modest" people who came to the opening ceremony could not but arouse the interest of photographers and opposition politicians. Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich himself. Where is Dasha Zhukova?

15. Sitting next to Vladimir Putin was a girl whom some even mistook for one of his daughters. They were wrong, this is the bobsledder Irina Skvortsova, who retired from professional sports in 2009, after a monstrous tragedy that occurred on bobsleigh track in Germany. As a result of a referee's mistake, the crew of Skvortsova and Nadezhda Filina were hit at full speed by a bob of the men's two. Irina has undergone more than 50 complex operations and does not leave thoughts of returning to the sport.

16. One of the five Olympic rings that did not open on time at the stadium has already served as an excuse for some resourceful comrades to make money on a "hot" topic. The T-shirt is made by savvy American designers and costs $23.

17. The same meme was Dmitry Medvedev's second fall into a dream, which began to be used by cunning Internet trolls and joke lovers.

18. Zemfira decided even on the opening day of the Olympic Games to think about her material and wrote the following, surprising many.

I want to end the article by listing the names of all the heroes who made an incredible show and once again proved their professionalism:

Konstantin Ernst- chief creative producer of ceremonies and scriptwriter

Georgy Tsypin- production designer and screenwriter, he previously worked at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and the Bolshoi Theater

Andrey Boltenko- director and screenwriter

Andrey Nasonovsky- executive producer of ceremonies and CEO of the Agency

Irina Prokhorova- Executive Director

James Lee- Suspension specialist who worked at the London Olympics

Sylvia Hayes- stage director, known for large production numbers in the Shangai circus

Phil Hayes- choreographer of aerial gymnasts, director of aerial productions in London 2012

Nathan Ray- choreographer, director of performances in the musicals "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Mama Mia"

Shana Carroll- choreographer, director of the Cirque du Soleil

Natalie Simrad- chief make-up artist of the Cirque du Soleil

Kim Barret- costume designer for the Cirque du Soleil show and the films "Spider-Man", "Three Kings", "Cloud Atlas".

Photo: Reuters, RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov, Facebook.com, ITAR-TASS