Russian resort bids for 2014 Winter Games

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi will
bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the country’s Olympic chiefs
announced Tuesday.

Less than three weeks after Moscow failed to win the right
to stage the 2012 Summer Games, the executive board of the
Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) voted unanimously to submit
Sochi’s bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

South Korea’s Pyeongchang, Austria’s Salzburg, Bulgarian
capital Sofia, China’s Harbin, Sweden’s Ostersund, the Spanish
city of Jaca, Georgia’s Borjomi, Munich in Germany and
Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty have already expressed their
interest in hosting the 2014 Games.

“This is not a dead project. We have government guarantees,
we have great support from local officials and the people of
Sochi,” said ROC president Leonid Tyagachyov.

“So I think this could be the start of something great. We
just need to get to work right away and not waste any time.”

The IOC deadline for applicants is Thursday with a final
decision to be made in July 2007.

Salt Lake City staged the 2002 Winter Olympics. Turin will
host next year’s Games and Vancouver is the 2010 venue.

London was chosen as the host city for the 2012 Summer
Olympics on July 6, beating Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow.