Sochi, Russia - The Winter Olympics take place in arguably the most exciting setting in its history in 2014 - with athletes at the Sochi Games to compete under palm trees and soaring surrounding mountains.
Russian's celebrate in the Russian resort of Sochi early morning 05 July 2007, after IOC President Jacques Rogge announced in Guatemala City that Sochi have been awarded the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Sochi won the bid ahead of Pyeongchang, South Korea and the Austrian city of Salzburg. EPA/STR
The Black Sea resort brings the snow and ice Games to Russia, one of the leading winter sports nations, for the first time.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has promised 'a safe, enjoyable and memorable experience' in the city of 400,000, with the election by the IOC Wednesday also a personal triumph for him.
The nation's leadership around Putin and leading businessmen have long made it clear that they are ready to invest 12 billion dollars to turn the popular summer resport into a destination to attract visitors all year long.
Sochi organizers never hid the economic part of the bid with an almost unprecedented 12 billion dollars to be spent on the Olympic infrastructure which has to be built from scratch.
This perfectly fits the Games motto 'Gateway to the future.'
But so does the fact that Russia badly needs state of the art winter sport facilities to stop most of its star athletes from training abroad.
This will serve as a boost to the next generation as the Olympics are a matter of immense pride for the nation which so far only hosted the boycott-marred Summer Games in Moscow 1980.
That was at the height of the Cold War, now Russia wants to present itself in a new way - even though the token Lenin statue is also present in Sochi, placed against a backdrop of palm trees.
'Russia continues to change and grow. Such a process is never easy in the world's largest country but I am confident that the Games would serve as a source of progress, boosting our all important transition and bringing all the Russian people together around the Olympic ideals,' said Mikhail Gorbachev, who tore down the Iron curtain as the last Soviet Union president.
The subtropical setting on the Black Sea shows that the Sochi Games will be unique in a Winter Olympics concept.
Part of this includes that there will be an Olympic Park 25km away from the city centre which will see all the ice events, the athletes village and the medal's plaza as well.
The IOC named this part of the concept 'innovative' but also stressed that careful planning will be needed to bring the fans in.
Even though the benefits of the development of the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort - heart of the mountain cluster some 48km away from Sochi - are undisputed, Olympians and environmentalists will keep a close eye on the construction.
'Careful planning and strict regulations would be required in the mountain zone, as major infrastructure would be built within Sochi National Park and, in particular, two venues are planned in close proximity to the Caucasus Biosphere Reserve (a UNESCO World Heritage site),' warned the IOC evaluation committee in its report.
The Sochi bid committee pledges that it will take these concerns into account as it plans the most modern facilities in Winter Games history, as all venues have to be built from scratch.
'Sochi 2014s vision is to unite the resources of the city of Sochi, the Krasnodar region and the Russian nation to develop in Sochi greatly needed sports and resort infrastructure in a sustainable, inclusive, environmentally responsible manner.'
'Our goal is to deliver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of uncommon excellence for the athletes, the Olympic Family, the Paralympic Family and the world,' said the bid committee.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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