Gadling

The recent announcement that Sochi has been awarded the 2014 Winter Olympics has left many people scratching their heads. Those who knew nothing about this place will have probably already learned that it is on the Black Sea coast. Those who knew a little bit about Sochi, are probably wondering why the Winter Olympics are being held in Russia’s most famous summer resort town.

The fact of the matter is that a rather impressive mountain range towers above the Black Sea coast and this will be the location of the various events–while the Olympic village will be located 35 minutes away on the coast itself.

To get an idea of what to expect in 2014, Russian Television has put together a five minute video of what a typical day will be like during the Olympics here. I have to admit, it looks rather impressive. But this is hardly a surprise. You can bet that Russia will be dropping quite a large amount of their petrodollars into the Games in order to make a rather splashy statement of their triumphant return to the world stage.