14 Facts about the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to Impress your Friends

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© 2013 Avaya Inc. All rights reserved.

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Seven cities bid to host the 2014 Winter Games: Sochi (Russian Federation),
Salzburg (Austria), Jaca (Spain), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Pyeongchang
(Republic of Korea), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Borjomi (Georgia).

The IOC selected the final three:
Sochi, Salzburg, and Pyeongchang. Sochi won the bid.

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Sochi is considered
the longest city in
Europe (approximately
148 kilometers or 92 miles).


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A subtropical beach resort, Sochi will be the warmest city to host a
Winter Olympics. February daytime temperatures average 50° F (10 °
C). The mountains above Sochi where most events will take place are
much colder, but organizers are stockpiling half a million cubic meters of
snow just in case, anyway.


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Sochi has been a resort town since its coastline was
settled in the late 1800s. Today, over two million visitors
come to Sochi each year.


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In order to promote the Olympics as well as
the physical fitness of its residents, Moscow
has a special promotion: Do 30 squats, get a
free subway ticket.

Also free? The
embarrassment of
realizing you can’t do a
squat.


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The torch relay started on October 7, 2013. The torch will arrive in
Sochi for the opening ceremony on February 7.

Avaya torchbearer in Suzdal, Russia


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The modern Olympic flame was first lit at
the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. The
first modern Olympic torch relay
was at Berlin in 1936.

2010 Vancouver
Winter Olympics
Cauldron

The torch for the Sochi Winter Olympic
Flame that the relay runners carry.

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Matryoshkas are Russia’s iconic wooden nesting dolls. For Sochi,
there are Matryoshkas that you can buy or even win.

But Matryoshka dolls actually originated in Japan.


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There are a total of 5 Olympic mascots
this year. The Polar Bear, Hare and Snow
Leopard are the official mascots of the 2014
Winter Olympics.


A Ray of Light and Snowflake are the
10
mascots for the Paralympic Winter Games.

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Olympic pin trading is considered
the number one spectator sport of
the Olympic Games.


photo credit: brianholsclaw via photopin cc
photo credit: happyworker via photopin cc
photo credit: brendan.lally....away via photopin cc

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This is the first time Russia will host the Winter Olympics. The Soviet Union
(USSR) hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.


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12 There will be 15 sport disciplines (groups) at Sochi.

Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating,
Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed Skating,
Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding and Speed skating.*

*Whew.
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There is a total of 98 medal-awarding events for men and women,
including the 12 new events listed below.

Freeskiing halfpipe*
Freeskiing slopestyle*
Women's ski jumping
Snowboard slopestyle* ----->
Figure skating team event
Snowboard parallel special slalom*
Biathlon mixed relay
Luge team relay


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* Listed as separate men’s and women’s events

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Norway, with just 5 million residents, has the
most Winter Olympic medals (303).
Second-place U.S. (253) has 63 times the
population.


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Head over to the Avaya Connected
blogs to learn how we and our
communications technology are
powering the Games!
And follow @Avaya on Twitter to
win Matryoshka dolls and Olympic
pins from Avaya!


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14 Facts about the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to Impress your Friends

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