Sochi transformed
Worldsport

Sochi transformed

Updated 1357 GMT (2157 HKT) January 23, 2014
Share
19 sochi overview19 sochi overview
1 of 19
The sun rises over Sochi's Olympic Park on January 10, 2014. The 2014 Winter Olympics will run February 7 - 23 in Sochi, Russia. Six thousand athletes from 85 countries are scheduled to attend the 22nd Winter Olympics. Here's a look at the estimated $50 billion transformation of Sochi for the Games. Michael Heiman/Getty Images
Soaring snowcapped peaks, some topping 10,000 feet, tower over the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on January 22, 2007. These are Russia's first Olympic Games, although the former Soviet Union hosted the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Mikhail Metzel/AP
The city of Sochi, which is also a fishing town, was among three finalists bidding for the Olympics. Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea, also competed. Mikhal Metzel/AP
In the Imeretinskay Valley, a woman plays with a dog in February 2007, near an advertisement for the Olympic Park soon to be built in the area. Organizers of the Sochi Olympics say they want these Games to be the greenest, most environmentally aware games ever staged. Mikhael Metzel/AP
Construction vehicles travel along the Imeretinskaya Valley, the site of Olympic facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, in April 2009.
Ice events will be held in a "cluster" near the Black Sea in the Imeretinskaya Valley. The second "cluster" will be for skiing and sliding events and will be held in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains.
Sergey PonomarevAP
People work on their vegetable gardens near the construction site of the Olympic facilities in the Imeretinskaya Valley in April 2009. Sergey Ponomarev/AP
This September 2010 photo shows ski facilities under construction in Krasnaya Polyana near Sochi. Igor Yakunin/AP
The Grand Ice Palace, intended for ice hockey, is under construction here in October 2010. Mikhael Mordasov/Getty Images
A construction worker walks on the top of the building site of the Bolshoi Ice Palace in Sochi in June 2010. Igor Yakunin/AP
Pictured here from the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort is the combined motor and rail road that runs between Olympic sites. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
Central stadium is under construction in Sochi's Olympic Park in December 2011. Misha Japaridze/AP
Sochi's new Adler Arena for speed skating is pictured in November 2012. Mikhail Mordasov/AFP/Getty Images
Sochi's new Adler Arena for speed skating is pictured in November 2012. Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Construction continues on Sochi's "Iceberg" Skating Palace in February 2012. Fabrice Coffrinia/AFP/Gett Images
The Iceberg figure-skating and short-track venue is pictured in September 2013. Mikhil Mordasov/AFT/Getty Images
The "coastal cluster" venues for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games are pictured in January 2014 in Sochi. The Asahi Shimbu/Getty Images
The Olympic rings for the 2014 Winter Olympics are installed in Sochi on September 25, 2012. Ignat Kozlov/AP
About 37,000 security officers will be deployed for the Sochi Games. Police officers walk in front of the main press center at the Olympic Park in Sochi on January 7, 2014. The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images
The Olympic rings light up the sky outside Sochi International Airport. An estimated 3 billion people are expected to watch the Olympics on television. Michael Heiman/Getty Images