Sochi Olympic Research Articles

Chemical composition and morphology of the Mediterranean mussel, Black Sea coast of Russia

Mussels, whose soft tissues are used in food and are rich in high-quality protein, are essential in marine fisheries. Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam) used to assesses the pollution level of a coastal marine zone due to exposure to local technological processes populate the metal piles of a pier built for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi Olympic Park. The chemical composition of mussel soft tissues (61 elements analyzed by the ICP method) indicates anthropogenic pollution of the coastal zone ecosystem, most pronounced in the 50-m zone along the coast due to run off from the terrestrial ecosystem affected by the Olympic construction. Line measurements of annual rings of 6-year-old individuals of mussels showed stabilization of the ecological situation in the coastal-marine zone by 2019. This study can be used for comprehensive ecological monitoring of coastal-marine zones with similar conditions and anthropogenic load.

Understanding Russia’s identity through Olympic ceremonies

This paper focuses on the comparative (mis-)interpretation of the 1980 Moscow and 2014 Sochi Olympic ceremonies by media outlets located in Great Britain and the USA, Russia’s ‘significant others’. Further, the paper attempts to uncover the most persistent facets of Russia’s identity – by decoding culturally-specific meanings of the signs and symbols in both ceremonies – and to trace which aspects of its national narrative Russia had to let go eventually in the course of the 34 years that separate the two Olympics. This is undertaken by a documentary analysis of ‘Western’ media between the periods of 20 July and 6 August for Moscow and 7–23 February for Sochi – time frames when the direct coverage of the ceremonies took place. Our key findings suggest that instead of enabling Russia to validate a new national identity and image the Western media only helped to reproduce resilient reciprocal national identities. Furthermore, it was the Sochi Olympics as Russia's biggest soft power party to date, not the aftermath, which, not least through a transformative attendant media response/framing from both sides, became the closing chapter of the Russian-Western interdependent identity construction in the early 21st century. Thus, apart from placing the spotlight on Russia’s evolving identity and interests, this paper also investigates how the USA’s and the UK’s media resisted Russia’s (Soviet) soft power strategy, whilst in the process solidifying their own identities and promoting their strategic narratives.

The Construction of Turkey’s Circassians as a Docile Minority

The 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games revived memories related to the Circassians’ forced migration from their Caucasus homeland into the Ottoman Empire after 150 years. In that year, I conducted a considerable oral history project to understand the collective memories of Circassians in Turkey. The main focus of this study is, however, the social construction of the Circassian minority in Turkey. I examine their oral historical narratives related to their immigration, reception and resettlement, and instrumentalization. It is as important to place emphasis on the protected, multiplied and renewed sociocultural values of Circassians as it is to confront the history. I will examine the relationship between their diasporic identity and minority identity as well as their preferences in identity reproduction.

Communication Effectiveness of Sochi and Pyeongchang Olympic Opening Ceremonies: Analysis of U.S. Newspaper Coverage

Communication Effectiveness of Sochi and Pyeongchang Olympic Opening Ceremonies: Analysis of U.S. Newspaper Coverage

Ensemble approach to weather forecasting

Numerical simulations of the Earth System evolution are the basis of weather forecasts. Due to chaotic nature of the atmosphere, an inevitable inaccuracy of initial state information, and models imperfection their results are always uncertain. To be correctly interpreted by a user, each weather forecast should be supplemented by an estimate of its uncertainty. An ensemble approach is the only practically affordable method to solve the problem. With this approach, it is possible not only to get an a priori estimate of forecast uncertainty, but also to improve a mean forecast skill and to present alternative scenarios of future weather evolution. Ensemble prediction systems are highly time-consuming and can be implemented only on powerful supercomputers. A global ensemble medium-range prediction system has been running operationally at the Hydrometcenter of Russia since 2015. A short-range limited-area convection-permitting ensemble prediction system was developed for meteorological support of the Sochi Olympic Games 2014 and is now applied for research. Characteristics of the systems, peculiarities of their computer implementation and verification results are discussed.

Etkinliklerin Öteki Yüzü: Olimpiyat Oyunları Örneği

The Olympic Games which have made significant contributions to the promotion and marketing activities of the destinations has become a prominent event in countries’ efforts to create an image for many years. Also, developing thanks to Olympic Games, infrastructure and superstructure activities provide positive contributions to destinations. However, the financial responsibilities imposed on the host countries, the idle of the facilities after the games, and the fact that the Olympic Games did not fully meet the expectations in the recent years revealed the necessity of re-evaluating the Olympic Games. Therefore, this study is carried out in order to reveal the other effects of the Olympics by mentioning the negative aspects of the games rather than the positive effects of the Olympic games. For this purpose, in this study examining London, Rio and Sochi Olympic Games was analyzed web pages, annual reports and related articles by using archivedocument analysis. The result of this study, it was revealed that the negative effects of Olympic games should not be ignored.

Sport or politics? Critical discourse analysis of European media coverage of Sochi Olympic Games 2014

This paper examines how media and news reports in particular contribute to the construction of images on a particular event. For the purpose of it, the Winter Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi were chosen as a global media event owning to its controversial nature and various issues connected with these Games. The data were gathered from two prominent English-speaking news bureaus in Europe and examined to establish how centers of traditional Olympic stream and Western ideology comment on the Games hosted by an ideologically, politically and culturally different country. In attempt to address the aim, the research explores the thematic organisation (topics coverage) and the resources of appraisal in the articles dedicated to Sochi 2014. Despite its manual nature, the research combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches to the analysis of data. The findings revealed that all news bureaus constructed a negative evaluation of Sochi 2014 by means of the use of emotive language and selective coverage of topics relating either to the Games or to the host country. The paper is aimed to contribute to the existing research of critical discourse analysis and systemic functional grammar and present a pioneering study on the Olympic discourse by means of these two theoretical models

Xenon detection in human blood: Analytical validation by accuracy profile and identification of critical storage parameters

Xenon is a rare, mostly inert, noble gas that has applications in a wide range of fields, including medicine. Xenon acts on the human body as a useful organ-protective and anesthetic agent and has also been previously studied for potential applications in fields such as optics, aerospace and medical imaging. Recently, it was discovered that xenon can boost erythropoietin production, and it has been used as a performance-enhancing agent in international sports competitions such as the Sochi Olympic Games. Therefore, screening methods to detect the misuse of xenon by analysis of biological samples and to monitor anesthesia kinetics and efficiency are being investigated. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an analytical method to detect xenon in blood samples using gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS).Preliminary studies were conducted to determine the best parameters for chromatography and mass spectrometry for xenon. The analysis was performed using the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using the transitions m/z 129 → 129, 131 → 131 for xenon and 84 → 84, 86 → 86 for krypton, which was chosen as the internal standard. The LOD of GC-MS/MS was found to be 52 pmol on-column. Calibration lines and controls were made to obtain an accuracy profile at a range of 2.08–104 nmol with a β-expectation tolerance interval set at 80% and the acceptability limit set at ±30%. From the accuracy profile, the LOQ of 15 nmol on-column for the range of 2.08–104 nmol was obtained. The method was validated according to the guidelines of the French Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Techniques.The detection method was finally validated using blood from test persons subjected to a 15% or 30% xenon mixture with pure oxygen and air for 45 min. Even though the probes were already used for other projects, it was still possible to detect xenon.

‘E’ for empire: postmodernism and imperial ideology in the context of the Sochi Olympic Games

This article discusses two cultural products associated with the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014: the ‘Russian Alphabet’ video that was used as part of the opening ceremony; and the ‘alternative’ Olympic mascot, the blue furry frog Zoich along with its promotional campaign. The Sochi Olympics was a project intimately connected with the image of Russia as a great power. At the same time, the Games had to demonstrate Russian culture as edgy and appealing to both international and local audiences. In these videos, imperial and conservative ideology appears in a form of postmodernist fragmentation and in the guise of ironic protest art. Using these videos as a case study, I argue that the very nature of imperial ideology and postmodernist aesthetics can lead to an unexpected convergence. Unlike nationalism, rooted in modernist grand narratives of community and progress, imperial ideology has an unlimited potential for incorporating diverse and even contradictory elements. Moreover, this convergence of conservative ideology and postmodernist style results from the fact that Russian state media have adopted a version of postmodernism devoid of its progressive elements and critical content.

Residents' perception of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games: comparison of pre- and post-impacts

This study is related to understanding the temporal changes of residents' perception of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. Two surveys were conducted in 2013 (n = 1,048) and 2014 (n = 853). The research questionnaire based on approaches of Fredline and Faulkner (2002) and Zhou and Ap (2009) was developed. Results indicated that local residents' perceptions of the Olympics impacts have significantly improved through the years after the games. All of the positive incomes except 'increased employment opportunities' were found significantly higher and negative issues became significantly lower than before the games. An exploratory factor analysis has shown the change of perception structure after the games: three positive groups ('sustainable development of destinations', 'positive economic impact on travel destinations' and 'improving the quality of resident life') and one negative group of impact items were found. A positive residents' attitude toward the Olympics has transformed into supportive behaviour.

Residents' perception of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games: comparison of pre- and post-impacts

Residents' perception of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games: comparison of pre- and post-impacts

Multi-agent crowd simulation on large areas with utility-based behavior models: Sochi Olympic Park Station use case

Visualization of human flows and crowd behavior is a complex problem of multi-agent modeling. It can be applied to a various set of problems, from emergency case planning to city life visualization. In this paper, we propose a system to build composite behavior structures for models with a big number of agents. It is designed with combining game development technologies of creating artificial intelligence for ambient characters and traditional multi-agent modeling methods. The system was applied to simulate and to visualize human flows on Sochi Olympic Park station during 2014 Winter Olympics and nowadays in order to reveal areas where pedestrian flow should be controlled.

FROST-2014: The Sochi Winter Olympics International Project

Abstract The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) World Weather Research Programme’s (WWRP) Forecast and Research in the Olympic Sochi Testbed program (FROST-2014) was aimed at the advancement and demonstration of state-of-the-art nowcasting and short-range forecasting systems for winter conditions in mountainous terrain. The project field campaign was held during the 2014 XXII Olympic and XI Paralympic Winter Games and preceding test events in Sochi, Russia. An enhanced network of in situ and remote sensing observations supported weather predictions and their verification. Six nowcasting systems (model based, radar tracking, and combined nowcasting systems), nine deterministic mesoscale numerical weather prediction models (with grid spacings down to 250 m), and six ensemble prediction systems (including two with explicitly simulated deep convection) participated in FROST-2014. The project provided forecast input for the meteorological support of the Sochi Olympic Games. The FROST-2014 archive of winter weather observations and forecasts is a valuable information resource for mesoscale predictability studies as well as for the development and validation of nowcasting and forecasting systems in complex terrain. The resulting innovative technologies, exchange of experience, and professional developments contributed to the success of the Olympics and left a post-Olympic legacy.

Rethinking human rights: the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, LGBT protections and the limits of cosmopolitanism

Prior to the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, activists from several Western countries protested the implementation of draconian laws in Russia that targeted the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) community. This paper offers an alternative analysis of these protests, drawing attention to the effects of cosmopolitanism and contemporary human rights discourse within a current version of the ‘responsibility to protect’. The Western LGBT protest strategies are part of a broader historical shift from a classical notion of human rights as political demands with individuals seeking self-emancipation from their ‘Western’ nation states (rights of women, civil rights movement, etc.) to a current form of demands, which operate globally and serve existing neoliberal values related to capital and multicultural diversity. The problems with this type of intervention are multiple. In the case of the Sochi Olympic Games, advocates elevated visibility strategies instead of engaging Russian communities, histories and realities, to understand how local, Russian LBGT lives exist under an increasingly authoritarian regime. Such approaches not only privilege and assume ‘Western’ tactics of engagement embedded in a hegemonic discourse of human rights, but also elide important local Russian contexts and histories related to LGBT struggles.

Ideological framing in U.S. news coverage of Sochi Winter Olympic Games

ABSTRACTThis study used an ideological approach to examine news coverage of the Sochi Olympic Games in two U.S. mainstream newspapers – the Washington Times and New York Times. Based upon the theoretical framework of public diplomacy framing, findings suggested that the Washington Times framed the Sochi Olympics more negatively, while the New York Times used more neutral frames to report the games. Specifically, the Washington Times was more likely to point the finger at the ills of the city rather than focus on why people went to Sochi for the Olympics and repeat historical events and facts that described Sochi as an unsafe city. However, the New York Times framed the games more thematically that exhibited the issues of the terrorist attacks, suicide bombers, and disturbing violence toward the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people in Russia. Limitations and implications were also discussed.

Russia and Its International Image: From Sochi Olympic Games to Annexing Crimea

The aim of the article is to analyze the change of the Russian Federation’s international image in the light of two significant events: the Olympic Winter Games in 2014 in Sochi and the annexation of Crimea. According to the first hypothesis, one of the main aims for hosting the Olympic Games was to improve the international prestige of Russia. Shortly after the Olympics Russia increased its activity in Eastern Ukraine, which resulted in the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. Therefore the article is also aimed to investigate whether by annexing Crimea Russia squandered the possible positive effects of hosting the Olympics in terms of its international image.

The dwindling Winter Olympic divide between male and female athletes: the NBC broadcast network’s primetime coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games

All 63 h of the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) scheduled primetime coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic broadcast were analyzed revealing significant sex-based trends. Women athletes received 47.7% of the clock-time on the broadcast, more than in any other Winter Olympiad examined, and significantly more than in the previous four Winter Olympic Games. Women received 41.7% of the mentions in the broadcast and comprised 45% of the top-20 most mentioned athletes. Sex-based divergences in dialogues surrounding attributions of success were found, but none were detected for attributions of failure. Sex-based differences were also found in descriptions of personality/physicality. Contextualization is offered related to other intervening factors such as US medal successes by sex, celebrity and salient storylines surrounding American athletes.

Local Circassian reactions to the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games

This paper illustrates how a mega-sports event such as the Sochi Olympics can generate renewed spaces for production of knowledge and counter-branding for marginalized groups. As the indigenous people of the area, the Circassians in different ways, locally and transnationally, used the 2014 Sochi Olympics to promote greater knowledge of local Circassian history. Such knowledge was for many decades suppressed, during the Soviet period as well as afterwards, in the Russian Federation. This paper discusses cases of Circassian counter-branding of local history that were observed in connection with the Sochi Olympics and in opposition to the Russian Olympics project. The paper contends that the processes of counter-branding made visible local indigenous knowledge that even the authorities in Sochi have gradually come to accept.

Residents’ perceptions of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games

This study examines the perceptions of local residents prior to the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games. A survey conducted amongst residents, 5 months prior to the Games opening, reveals a lower level of support for the Games during the preparation period compared to other Olympic host cities. Socio-demographic data about the residents help explain the varying attitudes towards the Games that were identified. The conclusions suggest that Sochi residents’ perceptions have been largely influenced by their thoughts regarding potential economic and socio-cultural impacts, whether positive or negative. When these opinions are analysed further, three main considerations were found: (1) impacts on urban development and quality of residential life; (2) positive impacts on tourism and the destination’s economy and (3) negative results of hosting the Games. The study also finds, using structural equation modelling, that residents of Sochi, who could receive some benefit from the Games, were involved in the decision-making process or had more information about the upcoming Games, demonstrated more positive attitudes towards hosting the Olympics.

The Characteristics of Elite Biathletes Shooting Parameters in the 2013-2014 World Cup and Sochi Olympic Games

The aim of the research was to establish the characteristics of biathletes shooting parameters in the World Cup of 2013-2014 and Sochi Olympic Games. Aiming to achieve this goal athletes from various countries (male, n=88) who had received valid points in Biathlon World Cup were selected. Technical protocols of World Biathlon Cup (2013-2014) and Sochi Olympic Games (2014) as well as detailed shooting protocols were used for the data analysis. To assess shooting data of elite biathletes, parameters of accuracy at readiness in prone and standing positions (%) of season 2013-2014 were analysed; parameters of individual and sprint races shooting cycle (time duration to the first shot (s), time duration between shots (s), time duration between loading the rifle and leaving shooting stand, total shooting time (s)) were established as well as the analysis of inaccurate shoots indices was performed during this research. In total 1310 shootings (655 prone and 655 standing readiness positions) were analysed. The results of the study were processed with SPSS 22.0 for Windows software. The accepted level of significance was p<0,05. After analysing shooting results of the elite biathletes, it was determined that accuracy indices at readiness in prone position at the average reach 85,3±5.94 % (from 63,8 % to 95,8 %) and accuracy indices at readiness in standing position at the average reach 79,1±6,33 (from 62,0 % to 92,5 %). Total athletes’ shooting accuracy reached 82,1±5,03 % (from 67,5 % to 90,9 %).The research revealed that even elite athletes were specific with wide spread of shooting accuracy, especially in shooting at readiness in standing position (V–40,1). Elite biathletes during sprint and individual race shooting at readiness in prone position made their first shot on average in 16,2 s, their second to fifth shots were made in intervals every 2,6–2,8 s. Total time of shooting at readiness in prone position was 30,7±4,12 s. When shooting at readiness in standing position, athletes made their first shot on average in 13,7 s, their second to fifth shots were made in intervals every 2,4–2,5 s. Total time of shooting at readiness in standing position was 25,9±3,12 s. The spread of shooting times is not wide. When assessing the data of individual and sprint races, athletes’ preparation for shooting, and every shot execution, it was estimated that athletes prepared faster and executed the first shot (p<0,001) and other shots when in standing rather than in prone position. During individual race biathletes make their first shot slower and all other four shots faster when shooting in prone position compared to sprint. While shooting in standing position all the shots are made faster in individual race rather than sprint. After studying the data of inaccurate competition shots, it was determined that athletes, when shooting at readiness in prone position, executed more inaccurate shots to the first target (p<0,05), compared to next shots, while shooting at readiness in standing position, executed more inaccurate shots to the fifth, i.e., the last, target (p<0,05). The shooting accuracy of Lithuanian Olympic Team members T.K. is very similar and has no significant statistical differences compared to the average accuracy of elite athletes during the World Cup of 2013-2014 and Sochi Olympic Games. T.K. accuracy at readiness in prone position was 90,1 % while accuracy at readiness in standing position was 70,3%. Total accuracy of T.K. shooting on average was 81,5 %. However the time of shooting in prone position of T.K. is faster (p<0,05) and the time of shooting in standing position has no such statistical importance. Average time of shooting at the readiness in prone position was 27,8 s, while in standing position – 27,7 s. Keywords: biathlon, shooting accuracy, shooting time. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15823/sm.2015.15