Science World will become Sochi World during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. It will also be the venue where Sochi's Olympic logo will be unveiled, an Olympic first with an OCOG's logo being unveiled in a foreign country.
Sochi 2014 organizers ask Vancouver for assistance in replacing key official
By Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
August 25, 2009
VANCOUVER — The organizers of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games have turned to Vancouver for help in trying to replace a key official whose untimely death has created problems for the Olympics.
On Tuesday, Dmitry Chernyshenko, the head of the Sochi, Russia committee, said he asked John Furlong, the chief executive of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for assistance in replacing Bob Stiles, who died Aug. 20.
Stiles was Sochi's vice-president and author of its bid book, and as such was a key person in getting Sochi on track, said Chernyshenko, who is in Vancouver this week for meetings.
"We discussed it with John Furlong today, in between the sessions. It was very valuable to learn from my colleague, who is four years ahead," Chernyshenko said.
"He gave me some practical advice and I learned from his experience of building a successful corporate team."
Chernyshenko didn't say whether Vanoc had offered to loan him any of its senior staff while they seek Stiles' replacement, and he smiled when asked if he'd offered the job to VANOC CEO John Furlong.
"I don't think there are some open positions John deserves after his success as CEO here," he joked.
The loss of Stiles, who had worked on many Olympic committees, hit Sochi hard.
"He was a major source of the real experience in the Olympic movement that we were using in all our functions. Now we are suffering, not only mentally as his friends but also because it is a big challenge to organize these Games."
Chernyshenko said he also is discussing with Vanoc plans to send a large team of observers to Vancouver next February. Sochi has already seconded a number of employees to Vanoc in order to gain experience. But he said during the Games upwards of 100 Russians will be working in Vancouver.
Chernyshenko said the recession has affected all three of the Olympic organizers - Vancouver, London and Sochi - in different ways. With more than four years to go, the Russian Games still has time to overcome the downturn in the economy, he said. Sochi has already signed about $750 million US in domestic sponsorships, including a $100 million deal with Aeroflot, the Russian national airline last week.
While Vancouver has rewritten some of its plans in light of the recession, including cutting some service, Sochi is proceeding as planned.
"We are not going to change our vision despite the economic downturn," Chernyshenko said.
The complicated protocol of how Vancouver will hand over the Games to Sochi was on the table Tuesday as well. Chernyshenko said he met with David Atkins, the producer of the closing ceremonies, who has given Sochi an eight-minute window for a Russian welcoming performance after Furlong officially hands over the Olympic flag.
Sochi is also still in discussions with Vanoc over buying some excess equipment and venue overlay material after 2010, he said, but have yet to make a commitment.
The Russians also plan to use the Vancouver Games to unveil their new Olympic logo. Unlike most organizing committees, which reserve such events for domestic audiences, Sochi will reveal its new logo at Science World, which it has rented for the 2010 Games. Other details, including an international media strategy, will also be revealed there, Chernyshenko said.
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