Winter Olympics 2014

The 2014 Winter Olympics, otherwise known as the XXII Olympic Winter Games, will take place in Sochi, Russia, from February 7 to February 23.http://sochi2014.com/en/ The host city was chosen in Guatemala City, Guatemala on July 4, 2007 at the 119th International Olympic Committee session.http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/International_Olympic_Committee The previous Olympic games were held in Vancouver, Canada in 2010, where Dmitry Chernyshenko, the CEO of the 2014 Games, participated in the Flag Handover ceremony to symbolize the transition between host cities.

The 2014 Olympics mark the first time the Russian Federation has hosted Olympic events, although the Soviet Union hosted the Summer Olympic games in 1980. In preparation for the games, the city of Sochi, which is located on the ancient silk road about 1,500 km south of Moscow and 1,500 km east of Athens, will construct the Sochi Olympic Park along the Black Sea coast within the Imeretin Valley.http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Future-Olympic-Games/Winter/Sochi-2014/

Other candidate cities to host the 2014 games included Pyeong Chang in South Korea and Salzburg, Austria. Sochi won the bidding process with vote totals of 34/51 (first and second round voting totals, respectively), versus South Korea's 36/47, and Austria's 25 (did not make second round voting).http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/olympic_news/full_story_uk.asp?id=2221

At the 2010 Olympics Closing Ceremony in Vancouver, the host of the 2014 Games, Sochi, Russia, was introduced in an animated video showing off the city's cultural and scientific achievements.