The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi - Where is Sochi, anyway?

As most of us know, the Winter Olympics in Sochi are going to take place on the 7th through 23rd of February. And while previous Olympics have been held in well-known places like LA, Berlin, Paris, London and our very own Vancouver, not much is known about this year's destination - Sochi. This article is dedicated to discussing a bit of Sochi's history as well as educating the reader on why Sochi was chosen and where it is.

An example of the contradicting weather patterns in Sochi

Firstly, where is Sochi? Sochi is a city located in south-western Russia about 1622 kilometres away from the capital city of Moscow. (It's about a day's drive to get to Sochi from Moscow). A very unique place, Sochi is actually most famous for its beach resorts, being one of the warmest place in the Eurasian country. However, due to it's situation between the Caucasian Mountains and Black Sea, its Krasnaya Polyana mountains have beautiful snow conditions (despite the warm weather!) known to be protected by the wind and therefore, not lost in any way. These contradicting yet wonderous conditions cannot be found anywhere else in Europe.

As said earlier, Sochi is located in south-western Russia. This would make Sochi's second attempt in trying to gain the title of the Winter Olympics' Host City. (The first attempt being in 2002, losing to Salt Lake City, Utah, US.) The main ski resort used during the 2014 Olympics will be built by the same company that built Vancouver's pavillions in 2010, hosting both outdoor and indoor sports. The fact that Sochi has strong public and political support was possibly the driving factor in it winning the bid for the Winter Olympic Host title.

In the Olympics, countries are chosen in a series of two phases of votes. In the selection process, Sochi, Russia was put up against Salzburg, Austria and Pyeongchang, South Korea. In the first phase of votes, Pyeongchang was actually in the lead with 36 votes. Salzberg, having the lowest number of votes out of the three cities, was eliminated. However in phase two of eliminations, South Korea's city lost to Russia by just 4 votes - 47 to 51. Since then, Russia has been preparing for the day coming up for when the World's finest will compete for a taste of bronze, silver and; especially, gold.

Are you looking forward to the Olympics? Do you think Russia will be able to beat Canada's world record for most gold medals? Comment your thoughts below!