Representing a milestone date in Russia’s Olympic Winter Games preparations, the country celebrated February 7, 2013 as the one year out mark to the official start of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. The Opening Ceremony for the Sochi Olympic Winter Games will take place on the same date in 2014 and the Sochi Organizing Committee marked the occasion by hosting countdown clock unveiling ceremonies in eight cities across Russia. The day’s festivities concluded at the Olympic “Bolshoi” Ice Dome in Sochi with a colorful ice show and a ceremony in which Jacques Rogge, Head of the International Olympic Committee, formally invited the nations of the world to come to Sochi for the Games of 2014.
The Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi is ready to step into the spotlight as host of the world’s next major sporting event after the London 2012 Olympic Games. As part of its preparations for the Games, Visa and its partners are on-the-ground working with merchants and the Olympic Committee to help ensure that Russia plays host to the greatest winter games ever. Dmitry Chernyshenko, President, Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, discusses how payments will play a central role in the Olympic experience of Russian citizens, as well as the tens of thousands of international visitors that will descend on Sochi and other key tourism destinations throughout Russia.
Posted by: Lucas Mast, Visa Corporate Relations on February 7, 2013 at 5:49 pm
