MUNICH, May 23, 2010 - A delegation of senior Sochi 2014 officials, led by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Kozak, today visited the Munich Olympic Park for a series of meetings with legacy experts to discuss the opportunities for maximizing the positive legacy from the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The Munich Olympic Park is one of the best examples of an Olympic Games leaving a enduring sporting and social legacy.
The high-level delegation - which also included Sochi 2014 President and CEO, Dmitry Chernyshenko, Mayor of Sochi, Anotaly Pakhomov and Deputy Governor of the Krasnodar Region Aleksandre Ivanov (with regional responsibility for Olympic construction) – were eager to see at first-hand a functioning example of a sustainable Olympic Park as part of their preparations for hosting Russia’s first ever Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
DOSB President and IOC Vice President, Dr. Thomas Bach, joined the delegation for meetings before the two-hour visit to the Munich Olympic Park which included a detailed presentation of the Olympic Park and a tour around the Olympic Stadium, Olympic Hall, Olympic Swimming Hall and Olympic Tower, which have all been in almost daily use since they were built for the 1972 Olympic Games. Commenting on the visit, Mr. Kozak said:
“Our visit has been a valuable opportunity to learn from one of the best existing examples of sustainability. It is an incredible achievement for the Olympic Park to host over 300 successful community sport and entertainment events each year, nearly forty years after the 1972 Olympic Games. The lessons we have learned today have made us even more confident that we can emulate and, hopefully, surpass this achievement with a lasting legacy for our own Olympic Park in Sochi.”
After the presentations, the Sochi 2014 officials visited the famous Allianz Arena - home to Bayern Munich – to meet the stadium’s top management and discuss the successful experience of maintaining one of the best football arenas in the world. This knowledge transfer is important as the Sochi 2014 Legacy Plan states that the Central Olympic stadium, where opening and closing ceremonies will be held in 2014, will go on to become a world class football arena.
The Sochi Olympic Park will be built along the Black Sea coast in the Imeretinskaya Valley, where the ice venues, Main Olympic Village, International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre are being custom built for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, who travelled to Munich after presenting at the Olympic Truce Forum in Lausanne, believes the Sochi Olympic Park will deliver a lasting legacy which will benefit the Olympic Movement, the Russian people and the wider world:
“The Sochi Olympic Park will not only rejuvenate the city of Sochi, but will also contribute significantly to the economic, cultural and environmental development of the entire Krasnodar Region. It will be a catalyst for new standards in ecology, planning and corporate governance. A sustainable Olympic Park will be the beginning of decades of legacy that Sochi 2014 will deliver.”
During the visit, the Mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov, and the Mayor Munich, Mr. Hep Monatzeder, held a meeting to discuss a number of topics around creating a lasting legacy from an Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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