Sochi on the map
Nicknamed the "Russian Riviera", Sochi is a spectacular combination of Mediterranean-like temperatures and vegetation with favorable winter sport conditions, just a short drive away. read more...
Sochi is the largest resort region of the Russian Federation. It stretches for 147 km along the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar region and includes the Krasnaya Polyana mountain resort area. read more...
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Opening of the Olympic Village: where the dream is still possible!
The Olympic Village will be the finest symbolic place of the Beijing Games - a place where dreams will still be possible, where victories will be celebrated between friends and where lost illusions will be lamented. The Olympic Villages of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad opened their doors today in Beijing and Qingdao. At the same time, the Anti-Doping Rules applicable until the Closing Ceremony on 24 August 2008 have entered into force.
A bed for 2.26m-tall Yao Ming
The Olympic Village will not only be a place for dreams, it will also be quite simply a dream place. There the athletes will find exceptional living conditions, peace and tranquillity far from the commotion of the Games. The beds will be two metres long. For giants such as Chinese basketballer Yao Ming, who is 2.26m tall, units have been specially designed that will be added to the beds to offer them every comfort necessary. The athletes will live in an authentic environment. The Village is split into four zones, each of which has been allocated a traditional Chinese totem: the vermillion bird, the pi xiu (a mythical Chinese creature), the fish and the dragon.
Setting a good example environmentally
The Olympic Village is also setting an example from an environmental point of view. No less than 6,000m2 of solar panels will produce hot water for the 16,800 residents; and, using recycled water from a cooling system, it will be possible to save up to 40 per cent electricity. The use of non-polluting materials was essential throughout the construction. The Village is also fully accessible for the Paralympic athletes.
Tickle your taste buds!
The place to be – apart form the training halls and games rooms – will undoubtedly be the huge restaurant. There will be something to cater to all tastes and desires. Watch out, however, for your waistline... more than one athlete has been seduced by the Olympic Village food in the past and left a few kilos heavier. The advice from an expert: enjoy it after the competition!
The presidential room
As usual, the IOC President will sleep in the Olympic Village, in an ordinary room, identical to those of the other athletes. This rewarding practice, born in Salt Lake City, was repeated in Athens and Turin. “I appreciate having contact with the athletes enormously. Sharing a meal with them, playing a round of pool and strolling among these stars will be among the highlights of my presidency,” he underlined after the Turin Games.Tayla blazing trail for Turkish swimming
Series on Olympic Scholarship Holders, Beijing 2008. Today: Kaan Tayla.
If you’re wondering when was the last time Turkey won an Olympic swimming medal you’re asking the wrong question. The right question is, has a swimmer from Turkey ever reached an Olympic semi-final? The answer is no. In Athens, Kaan Tayla, then just 18, went out in the preliminary rounds of the 50 and 100 metres freestyle. Four years on, he plans on reaching a final and then, as he says, “who knows?”
Pool in the school
Swimming is not big in Turkey. As recently as 2005 in Istanbul, the world’s third largest city, there were just two public swimming pools. Tayla grew up in the capital city, Ankara, where state facilities were no better, but fortunately for him, and for Turkish swimming, he went to a private school. “We had a pool in the school,” Tayla explains. “I don’t think I would be a swimmer if we hadn’t.”
Fencing and chess
By rights, he should have been a fencer like his grandfather, and like his father who represented Turkey at the 1972 Olympic Games. “They tried to turn me into a fencer,” said Tayla, who played a lot of chess before taking up swimming. “I wanted to move more into the physical sports rather than the mental ones. I was 15 years old when I started swimming competitively, and I was 15 when I quit chess!”
“Best shape of my life”
The last Olympics were a steep learning curve for Tayla, who has since been studying computer engineering and training twice daily on a Solidarity scholarship in the United States, where he’s been breaking collegiate and Turkish national records for fun. “I’ve improved my swimming a lot since I’ve been here, and I’m in the best shape of my life,” he said.
Idol Popov
The great Alexander Popov is his idol. “Even though he was at the top for 10 years, whenever he won he was never arrogant; he was always modest. I try to be like that. In swimming I like the racing side of it. If I’m in really good shape and I lose then sometimes I can get angry. But you can’t win every time. Sport is about winning and losing.”
For the Beijing Olympic Games, Olympic Solidarity awarded a total of 1,088 scholarships to 166 National Olympic Committees in 21 individual Olympic sports.
Factsheet
If you’re wondering when was the last time Turkey won an Olympic swimming medal you’re asking the wrong question. The right question is, has a swimmer from Turkey ever reached an Olympic semi-final? The answer is no. In Athens, Kaan Tayla, then just 18, went out in the preliminary rounds of the 50 and 100 metres freestyle. Four years on, he plans on reaching a final and then, as he says, “who knows?”
Pool in the school
Swimming is not big in Turkey. As recently as 2005 in Istanbul, the world’s third largest city, there were just two public swimming pools. Tayla grew up in the capital city, Ankara, where state facilities were no better, but fortunately for him, and for Turkish swimming, he went to a private school. “We had a pool in the school,” Tayla explains. “I don’t think I would be a swimmer if we hadn’t.”
Fencing and chess
By rights, he should have been a fencer like his grandfather, and like his father who represented Turkey at the 1972 Olympic Games. “They tried to turn me into a fencer,” said Tayla, who played a lot of chess before taking up swimming. “I wanted to move more into the physical sports rather than the mental ones. I was 15 years old when I started swimming competitively, and I was 15 when I quit chess!”
“Best shape of my life”
The last Olympics were a steep learning curve for Tayla, who has since been studying computer engineering and training twice daily on a Solidarity scholarship in the United States, where he’s been breaking collegiate and Turkish national records for fun. “I’ve improved my swimming a lot since I’ve been here, and I’m in the best shape of my life,” he said.
Idol Popov
The great Alexander Popov is his idol. “Even though he was at the top for 10 years, whenever he won he was never arrogant; he was always modest. I try to be like that. In swimming I like the racing side of it. If I’m in really good shape and I lose then sometimes I can get angry. But you can’t win every time. Sport is about winning and losing.”
For the Beijing Olympic Games, Olympic Solidarity awarded a total of 1,088 scholarships to 166 National Olympic Committees in 21 individual Olympic sports.
Factsheet
Olympic Solidarity Solidarity www.beijing2008.comBeijing 2008: Olympic triathlon start lists announced
This week, the International Triathlon Union (ITU) has released the final men and women’s triathlon start lists for the Beijing Olympic Games. All the 110 names have been confirmed by 37 National Olympic Committees. Furthermore, during the final World Cup event in Kitzbühel (Austria), a draw has determined the allocation of the race numbers and the position of the athletes in transition. (Click on the ITU website to download all relevant documents.)
55 women and 55 men on the start
The Beijing Olympic triathlon will have as many women as men. The 55 women triathletes will start on 18 August while their male colleagues will wait for the following day. The Olympic triathlon comprises a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike ride, and a 10km run. The Olympic triathlon event will be held at a scenic area of the Ming Tomb Reservoir in the Changping District of northern Beijing.
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ITU announces Olympic start numbers and transition area positions Learn more about triathlon Beijing 2008 official websiteIOC STATEMENT
Despite the best efforts of the International Olympic Committee, it seems very unlikely that any Iraqi athlete will compete at the Beijing Olympic Games.The IOC would like to see Iraq’s athletes in Beijing, and is disappointed they have been so ill-served by their own government’s actions. The deadline for taking up places for Beijing for all sports except athletics has now passed and as a result we must now reallocate a number of Iraq’s qualified or invited quota places.
The IOC’s executive board temporarily suspended the Iraqi National Olympic Committee on 4th June 2008, after the Iraqi Government dismissed the legitimate NOC and installed a new committee, chaired by its own Minister of Sport, which the IOC does not recognise.
The Olympic Charter forbids political interference in the Olympic Movement. Rule 28(9) of the Charter provides for the suspension of an NOC in the event that: “any governmental body…causes the activity of the NOC…to be hampered.”
The Iraqi government was invited to come to Lausanne to discuss possible remedies, but did not positively respond to the IOC’s invitation.
Over the last five years, the IOC and the wider Olympic family have provided funding and training opportunities to support the Iraqi NOC and more than 50 Iraqi athletes and coaches. The Iraqi government’s actions have destroyed this progress.
The IOC will continue to search for ways to help Iraqi athletes and support the role of sports in a safe and peaceful Iraq.
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For further information, please contact the IOC Communications Department on +41 21 621 60 00 or e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org.
Beijing 2008: last tickets for mens basketball tournament awarded
The 12 teams qualified for the men’s Olympic basketball tournament are now known, as the remaining three berths for the Beijing Games have just been won by Germany, Croatia and Greece, upon completion of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Athens (Greece). These three teams will thus be making their way to Beijing in August, along with Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the USA.
Final composition of groups
The draw to determine the final composition of groups for the Olympic Basketball Tournament took place just a few minutes after the final of the Athens Qualifying Tournament.
Group A: Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Iran, Lithuania and Russia
Group B: Angola, China, Germany, Greece, Spain and the USA
Group B: Angola, China, Germany, Greece, Spain and the USA
The complete event schedule has also been determined (info available on the International Basketball Federation’s website).
Who will succeed Argentina?
Will the Argentinean men’s team repeat their victory four years ago in Athens? To find out, be at Beijing’s brand new Wukesong Indoor Stadium on 24 August 2008 at 2.30 pm (local time) for the final!
Related stories
Field and schedule for the 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament for Men finalised Learn more about basketball Beijing 2008 official websitePages:
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Sochi Photo Gallery
Vladimir Putin. Sochi 2014 presentation at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala.
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