The Sochi-2014 application committee, which is involved in the nomination of the Black Sea resort in the capital of the Winter Games, has received new trump cards. Since October 1, three cities - candidates for the Olympics (in addition to Sochi, it is also Austrian Salzburg and South Korean Pyeongchang) are officially allowed to engage in international campaigning. The Russians did not waste time in vain and immediately held a large-scale action. In the six largest cities of the planet - Sydney, Milan, Tokyo, Doha, Amsterdam and London, events were held to promote the Sochi application.
Sochi residents decided to crush the world's leading media with the political authority and brilliance of their representatives. At meetings abroad, our country was represented by serious politicians, mainly ambassadors, and sports stars. Moreover, the athletes were selected in such a way that they were well known by local residents. For example, in Sydney, on behalf of the Bid Committee, the famous boxer Kostya Tszyu, who has long been living in Australia and has become practically his own for Aborigines, spoke. Amsterdam, considered the unofficial capital of speed skating, was visited by Olympic champion in speed skating on ice Svetlana Zhurova, and London was visited by the legendary swimmer Alexander Popov. In the middle of the month, Russians are preparing a new large-scale attack on world public opinion. Sochi's presentations will be held as part of the Sport and Education Forum in Beijing, at the Sport for All Congress in Havana and a meeting in Malawi.
Almost the greatest hopes are pinned on the agitators in Sochi 2014. In the summer, Zhurova, who worked for the Application Committee as a director for relations with athletes, began to form a special team of Olympic ambassadors. According to the plan of its creators, stars of Russian and world sports should enter it, who during their trips will convince colleagues and functionaries of the advantages of the Black Sea bid. The entire team is not yet called, but Izvestia still managed to find out the names of some of its members. So, the interests of Sochi-2014 will be represented, in addition to the stars already mentioned, by the former world arm wrestling champion, and now a member of the bobsled team Aleksey Voevoda (importantly, a native of the city), as well as figure skater Evgeni Plushenko and pole vaulter Elena Isinbaeva.
For Olympic ambassadors, even a special memo has been issued marked "confidential." The Izvestia observer was able to familiarize himself with this secret document. In addition to a brief list of the rules of the Commission of the International Olympic Ethics Committee and theses for speeches on the Sochi application, it contains a list of typical answers with which you can fight off the pressing questions of the "sharks of the pen."
Excerpts from the memo for the Olympic ambassadors
Question: Who else are the ambassadors of the Sochi-2014 bid?
answer: Sochi's ambassadors are primarily the millions of Russians who support the idea of the Sochi Olympics.
Question: How many ambassadors does the Sochi-2014 application have?
Answer: See above.
Question: Have you ever been to Sochi?
answer: (if yes) I know Sochi firsthand and I am absolutely sure that holding the Games in this city will enrich the Olympic movement. Games in Sochi will be held in an unusually picturesque area and will be concentrated within two compact complexes.
(if not) I am impressed with the concept proposed by Sochi-2014, and for my part I will provide the application with comprehensive support. The compact location of the two complexes with Olympic facilities is extremely convenient for both athletes and spectators.
Vladimir Rausch