TOKYO, January 27. /ITAR-TASS/. The Winter Olympics in Russia's Sochi less than two weeks from now would show the world a reborn Russia, Professor of Tokyo City University and specialist in Caucasus history Hirotaka Maeda told Kyodo news agency on Monday.

A major sporting event such as the games would help Russia show its own people and foreign partners that the country was over the economic decline it faced after the Soviet Union’s break-up, Maeda said. Hosting city Sochi had helped restore North Caucasus economies that had suffered greatly during the Chechen conflicts, he added.

Maeda said the Black Sea coast was characteristic of a great cultural diversity even in multicultural and multinational Russia. Its magic was that athletes from all over the world would be able to compete there despite political disagreements.