Winter Olympics:Sochi prepares

On February 7th , for a little over two weeks, the eyes of the sporting world will be focused on Sochi in Russia for the 2014 Winter Olympics. As with all Olympics, both summer and winter there tends to always be elements of controversy in the build up to the games, but once the sporting Action gets under way, all that is forgotten and the world's top sportsmen start to grab the headlines and no doubt the Sochi games will be exactly the same.

Winter sportsmen from 88 countries will participate in the Sochi games, in fifteen different disciplines. Some countries that have a winter sports heritage send athletes that will participate in a wide range of sports, while other countries that you would not normally associate with winter sports  end up sending just one qualifying athlete, countries like the Philippines, Hong Kong and the island of Tonga and who would ever forget the Jamaican bobsleigh team, who were immortalised in the Disney film Cool Runnings. No doubt the Sochi winter games will also have a brilliant story of the underdog who defied the odds to take his place on the worlds winter sports stage. 

When the action gets under way it will be based in two separate areas. The Sochi Olympic Park has been built on the Black Sea coast and will host all the indoor events like the figure skating and ice hockey. All the Alpine events will be held in the mountain resort of Krasnaya Polyana. 

Although there are fifteen disciplines at the games there are always sports that capture the public’s imagination because they are spectacular and thrilling to watch. The four-man and two-man bobsleigh are always a big favourite with winter sports fans. Favourites for both events are the American and German teams. The American team are defending their four-man Olympic title they won in Vancouver and the Germany are the current two-man Olympic champions.

The men's ice hockey is going to be a huge event at the Sochi games and the Russian team will be carrying the hopes and expectations of the host nation, including the country's President, Vladimir Putin. Canada are the favourites to take the gold medal, but it will be a hard fought contest with 150 players coming from the top flight NHL.  

One of skiing's hottest stars, Lindsey Vonn from the US, has announced that she will not be competing at the Sochi games due to injury, so her friend and rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch from Germany is now the favourite to take the women's downhill gold medal. One surprise inclusion to the ranks of the women skiers is the famous classical violinist Vanessa Mae, who will be representing Thailand on the slopes. In the mens skiing, Bode Miller from the US who has been in stunning form this winter  and will be amongst the favourite for the downhill and super-G, but he will face strong opposition from three time Olympic medallist, Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal. 

Whoever wins the medals on offer, there is no doubt that the Sochi Winter Olympics will be both memorable and exciting and will leave an Olympic legacy that will extend well into both Sochi and Russia's future.