Sochi 2014 will be the first Winter Games to have venues in two distinct ‘clusters’, with 11 newly built arenas set to provide world-class stages for the athletes.
Venue for: Speed skating
Capacity: 8,000
The oval-shaped Adler Arena has been designed to resemble an ice fault, with angular walls and triangular stained-glass windows creating a crystal-style facade. The walls have been made as transparent as possible, enabling spectators to admire the scenic views around them, while the ice track itself has been designed to enable the athletes to perform at their best.
Venue for: Curling
Capacity: 3,000
The 3,000-seat Ice Cube Curling Centre features a combination of smooth and well-rounded contours reminiscent of the shape of the curling stone, which is accentuated by the bright polished surfaces of its façade. The simplistic design of the venue is supposed to symbolise democracy and accessibility.
Venue for: Ice hockey
Capacity: 7,000
The Shayba Arena takes its name from the Russian word for puck, while Russian fans are also renowned for shouting “Shaybu” when supporting the national hockey teams at major championships. A symbolic hockey puck was laid at the foundation of the arena during construction. The circular exterior of the 7,000-seat venue features an attractive blue and white swirling motif, with the design based on a snowdrift.
Venue for: Ice hockey
Capacity: 12,000
The eye-catching design of the Bolshoi Ice Dome is based on the image of a huge frozen water droplet. The 12,000-seat venue features innovative heat transfer fluids that are used to create and maintain the arena’s high-performance ice surfaces. The heat transfer fluids are also being used in the air conditioning system to provide reliable, steady temperature control to maintain ice quality and allow better performance and safety for athletes.
Venue for: Figure skating, short track speed skating
Capacity: 12,000
The smooth curves of the Iceberg Skating Palace’s beautiful glass façade are designed to evoke associations with a figure skater’s trajectory when landing a triple toe loop. Incredibly, it will take organisers just two hours to adjust the ice when switching from figure skating to short track speed skating during the Games.
Venue for: Opening and Closing Ceremonies
Capacity: 40,000
The elaborate jewel-encrusted Fabergé eggs that are a renowned Russian icon inspired the unique shell-like design of the Fisht Olympic Stadium. The venue features a translucent polycarbonate roof, which will be used to project vivid illumination shows during the Games, while also giving the venue an appearance of snowy peaks, ensuring it sits in harmony with the landscape of the Imeretinskaya Valley and the Caucasus Mountains.
Venue for: Ski jumping
Capacity: 7,500
Located on the northern slope of the Aibga Ridge, in the village of Esto-Sadok, the RusSki Gorki Jumping Centre sits on the junction of two ridges in order to ensure that the ski-jumping facilities fit well with the surrounding landscape. The venue’s name plays on the abbreviation of Russia to “Rus” and the word “Ski”.
Venue for: Snowboarding, freestyle skiing
Capacity: 4,000 (Freestyle Skiing Centre); 6,250 (Snowboard Park) (Freestyle Skiing Centre); 6,250 (Snowboard Park)
Located on the west of the Rosa Khutor plateau, the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park will host snowboarding and freestyle skiing events during the Games. The unique snow conditions combined with specialised tracks will make this permanent facility a popular venue for world-class competitions, with the 1.2km ski-cross track, for example, featuring a thrilling 213m vertical drop.
Venue for: Cross-country skiing, biathlon
Capacity: 7,500
Located on the crest and slopes of the Psekhako Ridge, approximately 10km to the northeast of Krasnaya Polyana, the Laura Cross-Country Ski & Biathlon Centre is unique as it comprises two separate biathlon and cross-country stadiums, each with their own tracks and start and finish zones. The venue takes its name from a turbulent mountain river with a large number of waterfalls, which has its source in the southern slopes of the Assar, within the boundaries of the Caucasian nature reserve.
Venue for: Alpine skiing
Capacity: 7,500
Located on the Aibga Ridge, approximately 80km outside Sochi, the Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort will host all Alpine skiing disciplines. Bernhard Russi, a world-renowned ski architect and Olympic champion, developed the competition tracks, which measure around 20km in total, with the men’s downhill course stretching to almost 3,500m and featuring a vertical drop of 1,075m.
Venue for: Bobsleigh, skeleton, luge
Capacity: 5,000
Approximately 60km northeast of Sochi, the Sanki Sliding Centre has been built at the Alpika Service Mountain Ski Resort, with its track finishing area at Rzhanaya Polyana. The 1.5km track features 18 corners and a vertical drop of 131.9m, with state-of-the-art ice preparation technology ensuring optimum temperature control along the entire length of the track.
This article was originally posted on olympic.org