2014 Winter Olympics

The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXII Olympic Winter Games, is an international winter sports event that will be held from February 7 to February 23 2014. These are the first winter games in a subtropical city. The host city, Sochi, Russia, was chosen on July 4 2007, during the 119th International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Guatemala City, Guatemala. This will be Russia's first time hosting the Winter Olympics (the Soviet Union hosted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow though). T.A.T.U will perform at the opening ceremony.

Sports

Fifteen winter sports will be played in the 2014 Winter Olympics program. Sports included will ones that are generally played in the winter. They include skiing, ice skating, ice hockey, and curling. A total of twelve new events will be contested to make it the largest Winter Olympics to date. The following sports will be played:

• Ice hockey
• Figure skating
• Luge
• Skeleton
• Bobsledding
• Ski jumping
• Skiing
• Snowboarding
• Curling
• Cross country skiing
• Biathlon
• Speed skating

Stadiums

Most of the stadiums will be built at a place called Sochi Olympic Park near the Black Sea coast All of the venues(stadiums) being used are new. The venues will be near each other and . This will provide a great compactness of the concept with the Olympic Stadium and all indoor venues of the Olympics will be gathered within walking distance.

• Bolshoy Ice Dome – ice hockey (final), 12,000 spectators
• Shayba Arena – ice hockey, 7,000 spectators
• Adler Arena Skating Center – speed skating, 8,000 spectators
• Iceberg Skating Palace – figure skating, short track speed skating, 12,000 spectators
• Ice Cube Curling Center – curling, 3,000 spectators
• Fisht Olympic Stadium – ceremonies (opening/closing) 40,000 spectators[13]
• Main Olympic village- where the athletes sleep
• International broadcasting centre and main press room

Hoewever, some parts of the Olympics, mainly skiing and snowboarding, will take place away from the main area. These events will take place at Krasnaya Polyana (Mountain Cluster)

• Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex – Biathlon, Cross-country skiing
• Rosa Khutor Extreme Park – Freestyle skiing and Snowboarding
• Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort – Alpine skiing
• Sliding Center Sanki – Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton
• RusSki Gorki Jumping Center – Ski jumping and Nordic combined (both ski jumping and Cross-country Skiing on a 2 km route around the arena)

Rosa Khutor Plateau Olympic Village

Homophobia

In 2013, a law against 'homosexual propaganda' was made in Russia. On 27 January 2014, the mayor of Sochi said that there are no gay people living in Sochi. On the first day of the olympics, 7 February 2014, four gay rights activists were arrested in St Petersburg.