On day three of our business trip to Moscow, Russia, we had the rare opportunity of visiting the organizing headquarters for the Sochi Olympics 2014. The building lies in a busy part of central Moscow on a narrow offshoot from the busy main streets. Once upstairs, we were ushered through a busy hallway to a conference room decked out with many trophies, a long glass table and large maps of Sochi’s future Olympic park.
It was hard to imagine that I was standing in the building where the planning for one of the world’s biggest sports events was taking place.
The purpose of our visit was to interview Dmitry Chernyshenko, the man who was head of Sochi’s Olympic bid committee and is now head of the planning committee. Visa has, after all, been a top sponsor for the Olympic Games for years now, and our company is now partnering with the Olympic organizing committee to prepare the city with the electronic payment infrastructure to host the Games.
What clearly came across from my interview was Mr. Chernyshenko’s passion for the Olympic Games and his commitment to his native city of Sochi. He was quick to point out that he will consider the Games a success if the infrastructure he helps implement makes an impact that lasts long after the Olympic torch goes out.
Today, in fact, we travel to Sochi to see the spot itself. So stay tuned for more postcards from Sochi and, in the coming weeks, a full mini-documentary about the preparation for the next Olympic Games.
Posted by: Noelle Chun, Corporate Relations, Visa on September 17, 2012 at 9:56 am
