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Sochi welcomes 2014 Winter Olympics with traditional Russian hospitality

ZAMYATINA Tamara

On the eve of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, officially opening on February 7 the sports world and the community of fans around the world have caught their breath in anticipation

MOSCOW, February 6. /ITAR-TASS World Service/. On the eve of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, officially opening on February 7 the sports world and the community of fans around the world have caught their breath in anticipation.

Six thousand athletes, 12,000 journalists, 25,000 volunteers, 1.2 million tourists and 3 billion television viewers around the world — these figures alone indicate the Olympics are a truly global event. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the very instance of the Winter Olympics being held in Sochi can be regarded as Russia’s triumph.

The opening ceremony due on Friday will herald the beginning of a sports marathon that will last till February 23. Paralympics will follow at the very same facilities on March 7-16.

This is a second time Olympic Games are being held in Russian territory. Back in 1980 Moscow welcomed the 22nd Winter Olympics. The mascots of the Sochi Games are the Polar Bear, the Snow Leopard and the Doe Hare, and the motto — Hot, Cool, Yours.

What makes the Sochi Olympics so unique is that for the first time ever winter games are being held in a subtropical city. Sochi’s guests enjoy no end of contrasts on a warm coast of the Black Sea and Alpine skiing routes on the steep slopes of the Caucasus Mountains.

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