Unbelievable facts
The 2014 Winter Olympics begin on Friday, February 7 in Sochi and will end on February 23.
The Winter Olympics are not as big as the Summer Olympics. The Winter Olympics include only 15 sports, while the summer Olympics include 41 sports.
Here are some interesting facts about the upcoming Olympics.
The cost of the Sochi Olympics
1. This is the most expensive Olympics ever. The cost of its implementation exceeded $50 billion, which exceeded the initial budget of $12 billion. By comparison, the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver cost $8 billion.
Sochi Olympics participants
2. Never before have so many countries participated in the Winter Olympics. A total of 88 countries will be represented. Paraguay and Zimbabwe will participate for the first time.
3. The largest countries are sending the most athletes this year. 225 athletes will compete from Russia, 230 from the United States and 220 from Canada.
Sochi 2014 Olympic Mascots
4. Three mascots were chosen for the Sochi Winter Olympics: the White Bear, the Bunny and the Snow Leopard. They were chosen by the audience during a vote during the All-Russian Game Mascot Competition.
New Olympic competitions
5. Twelve new competitions are expected to debut at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, including mixed team figure skating competitions and women's ski jumping.
Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Medals
6. Athletes who won gold on February 15 will be awarded special gold medals with pieces of a meteorite that fell in Chelyabinsk on February 15, 2013.
7. Each medal weighs between 460 and 531 grams and took about 18 hours to produce each medal. These will be the largest medals, with a diameter of up to 10 cm. A total of 98 medal events will be contested and 1,300 medals will be awarded.
Olympic Gold Medal
8. The gold medals will be made of silver, but they will be gold-plated. Its cost is estimated at $6,000. By the way, the last time pure gold medals were awarded at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.
2014 Olympic Torch Relay
9. The Olympic flame covered a record distance of 65,000 km on the way to Sochi. Among the modes of transport on which the Olympic flame made its way were: a car, an airplane, a train, and even a reindeer sled. The torch passed through more than 2,900 settlements, and 14,000 people visited the torchbearers.
Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics
10. Sochi will be one of the warmest cities hosting the Winter Olympics. The city is known for its subtropical climate and in winter it is quite warm and the temperature rarely drops below 12 degrees Celsius.