Sochi Games Research Articles

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and the controversy of the Russian Propaganda Laws: is the IOC buckling under the pressure of its own incoherence in thought?

The Sochi Winter Olympics were a triumph in the eyes of Russia and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Yet, a controversy around the introduction of anti-propaganda laws in Russia that had been criticised for being discriminatory marred the efforts of the IOC to fulfil its self proclaimed aspiration of ‘encouraging the harmonious development of man’. This article discusses the controversy utilising a legally pluralist approach to sports governance, and providing a critical reading of the practices of neoliberal globalisation that marked the issue of sexuality at the Sochi games. The paper argues that the legal influence of the IOC on domestic and international legal norms is contradictory and inconsistent. This, when considered alongside the aspirations of the IOC is significantly problematic and demonstrates the importance of investigating the underlying power structures of this influential international governing body.

Alcohol, sponsorship, and new media activation: an investigation of Molson Canadian and the 2014 Olympic Games

Beer brand Molson Canadian (MC) was an official supporter of Canada's Olympic team for the 2014 Sochi Games; regarded by many as the pinnacle event for winter sports athletes and teams. This paper investigates the use of social media by MC with respect to Canadian teams and athletes who competed at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. A content analysis of Molson Canadian's Facebook page and Twitter account was conducted from 6 February 2014 to 24 February 2014, spanning the entire time period of the Sochi 2014 Games. Results and discussion highlight the topics and categories MC focussed on in its posts and tweets and the engagement elicited from each type of post. These results shed light on MC's social media sponsorship activation effectiveness. MC's posts/tweets were significantly more focused on reporting informational and promotional content than posts/tweets of an interactive nature, which indicates that MC did not exclusively prompt customer interaction during their Olympic sponsorship, a key finding based on the existing literature on this social media effectiveness.

Economic development as major determinant of Olympic medal wins: predicting performances of Russian and Chinese teams at Sochi Games

Starting from an econometric model successfully used to explain and then predict the distribution of medal wins across nations at the Beijing Summer Olympics, a similar model is elaborated on with some different explanatory variables for estimating the determinants of medals won per nation at Winter Games. A Tobit estimation of the model based on data from 1964 to 2010 shows that GDP per capita, population, the endowment in ski and winter sports resorts, and a host country dummy are significant determinants of medal wins at Winter Olympics. Then the estimated model is used for predicting the sporting outcomes at the 2014 Sochi Games with a focus on Russia and China. The Russian team is expected to perform better than in Vancouver 2010 and to be ranked fourth behind the USA, Germany and Canada while the Chinese team would be ranked ninth, a performance doomed to improve in the future given China’s swift economic development.

Źródła nacjonalizmu czerkieskiego i jego konsekwencje polityczne

The problem of the increasing threat to Russian security in the area of the Northern Caucasus is described as originating in the ethnic groups from the mountainous region located between the Caspian, Black and Azov Seas. The hundreds of ethnic and sub-ethnic groups living there have their own identities and are aware of their individuality. This makes the Northern Caucasus the most unstable of all regions in the Russian Federation. One of the more serious threats to the national security and territorial integrity of the Russian state is posed by separatist movements in the Northern Caucasus. Caucasian enthnoses and elites have various levels of national consciousness, political ambitions and loyalties towards Moscow. The ethnic situation in north-west Caucasus is becoming increasingly tense, and the organizations of Circassian autonomists and separatists are winning more and more support. A lot seems to suggest that as the date of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi draws nearer the protests of the Adigeian population are likely to escalate, both in the Russian Federation and abroad. The ‘Circassian issue’ is a significant ethno-political challenge faced by the authorities of the Russian Federation.

Framework of nanotechnology for achieving the objective advantages of biathlon national teams of Russia at the winter Olympic Games in Sochi 2014

Framework of nanotechnology for achieving the objective advantages of biathlon national teams of Russia at the winter Olympic Games in Sochi 2014

Popular Perception of Urban Transformation through Megaevents: Understanding Support for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

With the increasing number and impact of events hosted by cities, understanding the nature of popular support for them and the resulting urban transformations is a crucial task. I examine residents' perceptions of the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, asking how support differs across social groups and what factors predict support. I find that negative impacts from preparations dominate public opinion, but that there is nevertheless a solid support base for the event. Support tends to be strongest among non-Russians, the younger generation, and residents who have good knowledge of the preparations. Perception of positive impacts—in particular, expected image improvement—is the strongest predictor of support, while perception of negative impacts shows a much weaker association with support. I conclude that delivering on the positive aspects of events might be more important for administrations than minimizing the negative side effects.

State Dirigisme in Megaprojects: Governing the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

This paper examines the preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, and links it to debates on state rescaling and urban entrepreneurialism in megaprojects. It is argued that the Olympic megaproject in Sochi follows a model of state dirigisme which accords a salient role to the national state. Although private sector companies act as investors, the national state steers the planning process and directs the investment. This arrangement is reflected in a business–state relationship in which the boundaries between the public and the private sector become blurred, as the state establishes directive control over companies. The model of state dirigisme is underpinned by a nationalist narrative which frames the Olympic Games not primarily as a stimulus for economic development and global competitiveness but as a contribution to Russian greatness. This mode of governing the Olympic Games deviates from the model of entrepreneurial governance and the concomitant state rescaling, dominant in megaprojects in North America and Western Europe, in according a prominent role to the national state rather than to market-led development pushed by cities as lead actors.

Dynamics of Russian dry ports

The transportation of cargos in containers has been intensively developing over the last decades. The world pace of growth in container transport is about 11% annually while in the Russian Federation from 2003 to 2007 the average growth was 21%. Container transportation is going to increase due to the construction of huge infrastructure projects for the Winter Olympics games in Sochi 2014, which implies the transportation of the required material flow. Foreign car assembly on Russian territory is developing, supplied by component parts delivered from Japan and the Republic of Korea, as well as from China that now bring 21.3% import container transport to Russia. About 60% of Russian container traffic passes through seaports Saint Petersburg, Novorossiysk and Vladivostok. The scenarios for increasing capacity to meet demands ahead are enhancing the productivity of seaports sites or leading to the creation of terminals in the hinterland. Although the phenomenon of dry ports is spread all over the world, in Russia none of the seaports has sufficient number of these facilities. The inland terminals of Russian seaports will be analysed from a dry port perspective. Despite the impediments, there are ecological and economical benefits that are discussed in the article. The advantages to the transport chain suggest that dry ports are a promising area for Russian seaports’ welfare.