The Year Ahead -- Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

(ATR) The Sochi Olympics 'big build' is the major focus for organizers of Russia's first Winter Games. Next month's mascot launch and first test events are other important milestones. The addition of new events for the Games will also be decided.

Sochi 2014 president and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko has pledged that all competition venues will be completed by 2012 to ensure two full-seasons on test events.

Russia is charged with delivering 250 Olympic-related venues and infrastructure projects. More than $3.3 billion has already been sunk into Sochi preparations and further investment is coming to fast-track completion of ice venues in the coastal cluster and those in the Krasnaya Polyana mountains.

The IOC Coordination Commission chaired by Jean-Claude Killy will be hoping to see significant progress on the 40,000-seat main stadium for the Games when it visits March 22 to 24.

Sochi officials must also answer IOC concerns over the pace of building accommodations, workforce recruitment and training and the coordination of Games operations.

Work to upgrade the transport infrastructure will advance at a rapid pace in 2011. The IOC inspectors are expecting further sections of the new rail link connecting the city with the mountain venues 30km away to be unveiled.

Before the IOC co-com come the first test events. Sochi officials will test the recently-completed Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort with the Alpine FIS Europa Cup for men from Feb. 15-18 and the women's event Feb. 22-26.

The next test events after the Europa Cup are in December, when Sochi 2014 will stage the national Russia Cup in biathlon, cross country skiing, alpine skiing, snowboard and freestyle.

Over 74 test events are planned over three seasons, including five world championship events, that are expected to bring 250,000 spectators and 5,000 athletes to Sochi.

The IOC Executive Board is expected to discuss and approve the addition of up to 10 new events for the Sochi Olympics at its meeting in Lausanne next week.

The Olympic Charter requires that new disciplines be approved by the EB no less than three years before the Games. The three-year countdown will be markedon Feb. 7.

Women’s ski jumping - turned down twice in its efforts to get on the Vancouver program - and new disciplines for snowboard, alpine ski, biathlon, figure skating and luge are under consideration.

In the frontline for Sochi 2014 this year will be Chernyshenko, Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Zhukov, who also heads the country's NOC, and Dmitry Kozak, the deputy prime minister with oversight of the Olympics.

They are just weeks away from unveiling the Sochi 2014 mascot. Among the shortlisted Olympic mascots are a polar bear, snow leopard and Father Frost.

They will be presented to the public on Russian national TV on Feb. 7, via short videos about each mascot.

A live TV show will follow when the Russian public will get to vote for their favourite mascot; it will be unveiled later in February.

A Sochi 2014 Paralympic Awareness Programme also launches next month.

In April, construction of the Mountain Olympic Village begins.

Celebrations will take place across Russia on May 14 - the 1,000 days to go mark.

Venue openings in late summer and autumn will include the Russian National Ski Jumping Centre, Rosa Khutor Freestyle Centre and the biathlon and ski complex.

Sochi's hosting of the European Olympic Committees general assembly in November provides Games chiefs to showcase the progress they have made since winning 2014 hosting rights in 2007.

In December, the Adler-Sochi Airport railway link is slated for completion.

This year, the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad – Year of Theatre gets underway and the Russian Olympic Committee will also hold various events to commemorate its 100th anniversary.

Sochi leaders will also start operating the 26 volunteer centers - leading educational institutions selected to deliver recruitment and training of volunteers across Russia.

Withreporting from Mark Bisson

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