Russia Celebrates Sochi 2014’s 1000 days to Go

Sochi 2014 marked the 1000 days countdown until the first ever Russian Olympic Winter Games kick off in Sochi.

As part of the celebrations, OMEGA unveiled an innovative clock to count down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds to the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games scheduled for the 7th of February 2014. The clock's design is intended to capture and reflect the spirit of a dynamic and diverse region.

On one side, the clock counts down steadily to the beginning of the Olympic Winter Games; while the reverse side of the Countdown Clock marks the time to the opening of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games which will begin on the 7th of March, 2014.

The city of Sochi and the whole of Russia celebrated the milestone with a series of events and festivities under the banner of "The Marathon of 1000 Good Deeds". The main themes of the day were: the environment, healthy living, education, and culture.

Some of the events that took place were:

• "1000 Olympic Lessons" were held at schools in Moscow, Krasnodar, Khanty-Mansiysk and Novocherkassk.

• Moscow, St Petersburg, Omsk, Volgograd, Krasnodar and Novorossiysk hosted a sports festival called "A 1000-Metre Dash Towards the Olympic Games". On top of this, volunteers instigated a huge flash mob called "The Olympic Warm-Up", which saw thousands of people taking part. In Volgograd, the warm-up was led by Olympic champion weight-lifter Aleksey Petrov.

• A "Friendship between People" Festival was held in Moscow, Kazan and Tomsk, to reflect the cultural diversity among Russia's nationalities. Volunteers at Kazan State Technical University organized an immense hot-pot banquet with 1,000 national meals for the public to sample.

• In Tomsk the Anthem of Russia was performed by 1000 musicians from three combined orchestras.

• Krasnodar, Moscow, and Ufa launched a number of social initiatives for the elderly under the title of "1000 Smiles". In addition, a programme called the "1000 Children's Drawings on Asphalt" was organized, where streets were decorated in brightly-coloured drawings created by children taking part in the event.

• Environmental events and “green initiatives” were held in Vladivostok, Tver, Sochi, Pyatigorsk, and Arkhangelsk. Numerous trees were planted alongside the Olympic avenues, and flower beds were arranged in the figure of 1,000.

• The students from the Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University also climbed to the top of Mount Mashuk, which stands at a height of 1,000m, and cleared its slopes of litter. The students began their ascent of the mountain from five different starting-points, one for each of the Olympic rings. The event also saw the Sochi 2014 Flag planted on the very summit of Mount Mashuk.

May 14 also marked the day when the Sochi 2014 Volunteer Centres were officially launched across Russia. Last year 26 higher education institutions won a contest to become volunteer centres in the run-up to the XXII Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.

IOC Sochi 2014 Coordination Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Killy said:

“It was great to see the whole of Russia getting involved in Sochi 2014’s 1000 days to go celebrations. The excitement and engagement that we witnessed across the country was exceptional and will no doubt continue to increase with the nationwide opening of Sochi’s volunteer centres. In addition, the unveiling of the stunning countdown clock serves to remind us all that this great country will soon be playing host to the world and its finest winter athletes. With 1000 days to go, the clock is now really ticking and I’m confident that the Olympians of 2014 will receive a fantastic welcome when they arrive in Sochi in just a few years time.”

Sochi 2014 Partners also actively supported the “1000 days to go” celebrations:

• Coca Cola marked 1000 days to the Olympic Games in Sochi on the very day when it was celebrating another significant date: the 125th anniversary of its legendary brand. To mark the occasion an exhibition entitled "The World of Coca Cola" opened its doors in Moscow, Sochi, St Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and Krasnoyarsk.

• As part of the Cherry Orchard Open Arts Festival, BOSCO planted a sweet cherry orchard in Sochi, to show its endorsement of the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad.

• The Dow Chemical company held a symbolic marathon, recorded 1000 good-luck messages to Olympic athletes on video, arranged a graffitti contest and also set up sporty and interactive games and an informative Olympic quiz in the grounds of Moscow State University's Chemistry Faculty.

• Panasonic organized screenings of the festivities in Sochi and Moscow in both 2D and 3D formats.

• Samsung held several "Olympic" days for youngsters at children’s homes in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Tolyatti, Samara, St Petersburg, Kaluga and Yakhroma.

• MegaFon launched its roadshow, "The Great Megafon Games", in Sochi's central square. The company arranged a celebration at which the public were able to have a go at winter sports and try out some sports simulation machines.

• Rostelekom held events for children throughout Russia's regions, and also launched two Russia-wide competitions on social networks: a children's drawing competition called "Draw the Sochi 2014 Mascots" and a photo contest for amateur and professional photographers, with a sporting theme.

• Russian Railways are creating a film montage of good luck messages from the Russian people, addressed to all those who are involved in the Olympics - from construction workers and volunteers to the athletes themselves. The company also marked the 1000 days to the Games festivities by starting a special scheme to install memorial alleys along the length of the Trans-Siberian Railway, to mark the railway's 120th anniversary.

• VOLKSWAGEN Group Rus celebrated the date at the Kaluga plant with the Sochi 2014 Ambassador Alexey Voevoda participation and also held a serious of events in its Skoda car dealerships throughout Russia: the "1000 heartbeats" extreme sports festival in St Petersburg, "The 1000 days until the Olympic Games bike-ride" and a children's sports celebration in Ufa, the "1000 flowers for the city" event in Novokuznetsk, a children's drawing competition called "Skoda's 1000 colours!" in Stavropol, a "1000 tickets to attractions" event for children in Pyatigorsk, and many more events besides.

• Kommersant publishing house launched its essay contest, "1000 words on the Olympics", for students in Russia's universities.

• English First opened its online school "Learn 1000 words - and be ready to host the Olympic Games in your country!", and also held open-door days in all its company offices, in honour of the 1000 days to the Games celebrations.

• In Kazan, a festival for friendship between peoples took place and an open-air concert in the city's square. These events were supported by Sberbank. Additionally, in Pyatigorsk Sberbank staff took part in the environmental action on Mount Mashuk and in Samara, Sberbank organized a huge festival of sport.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, Sochi 2014 President and CEO, said: “Sochi 2014’s 1000 days to go celebrations have reached every corner of Russia. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the festivities dedicated to this important milestone. The whole nation is uniting to welcome the first ever Olympic Winter Games to Russia in 2014. This has been possible due to the active support of our partners, as we combined our efforts to organize the “1000 days to go” celebrations in the best possible way. And we did it! Now we only have 1000 days to make a change, 1000 days for new ideas and hard work in order to hold the most innovative Olympic Winter Games in 2014.”

Gala concerts in Moscow and Sochi provided a grand finale to the "1000 Days to the Games" festivities. The Moscow concert (presented by Rosneft) set a Russian record for the over-all number of people performing the composition the "Bogatyrskaya Sila" song. The culmination of this massive flash-mob was marked by volunteers unfurling a gigantic map of Russia on which Moscow and Sochi were shown bound together.

For more information, please contact:
Xenia Reizhevskaya, Sochi 2014 Head of Press Office, +7 925 999 2551

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