The opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics took place last night. Vladimir Putin officially declared the Games open. Today marks the first full day of competition across various venues. The Olympic rings, created by founder Pierre de Coubertin in 1913, represent the five inhabited continents and the ideals of the Olympic movement. Coubertin reflects proudly on the growth of the Olympics from its origins to today's global event in Sochi, emphasizing the values of equality and non-discrimination. Athletes are encouraged to provide feedback on their Olympic experience through surveys and focus groups to help future host cities.

1. HOT. COOL. YOURS.
The Olympic Village Newspaper8 February 2014
2ND DAY OF THE GAMES
”I DECLARE THE XXII OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES OPEN!”
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Last night the incredible
opening ceremony
of the Sochi 2014 Winter
Games kicked off the
Olympics in style.
Let the Games begin!
20:14

2. C r o s s-i n t e r v i e w D i s c o v e r y
Ed i t o r’s w o r d
2
1
Exploit
2
Music
3
Diet
4
Idol
5
Hockey
24 h o u r s w i t h… B a r o n P i e r r e d e C o u b e r t i n
OLV daily 8 February 2014
1 I was world champion in 2012 and
I won the World Cup in 2006/07 and
2007/08.
2 I listen to many styles of music. It
depends on my mood. At the moment
my favorite song is ”Farm Girl Strong.“
3 I try to focus on meat and vegeta-
bles. I live on a farm with cows so I eat
high quality meat. This is really great.
4 My father, Ted Uhlaender, played
major league baseball. He participated
in the 1972 World Series with the Cin-
cinnati Reds, but he played the majority
of his career with the Minnesota Twins.
5 I am with the USA at full speed.
Yeah! I am a patriot!
1 I was third in the World Cup in
2012/13 and 2013/14.
2 My favourite song is ”Ich komme
zurück.” It is a Swiss song. Yes, there is
an English version, but this one is Swiss
German.
3 I have to eat chicken nuggets! They
are very good, only joking. In fact, my
favourite food is spaghetti with tomato
sauce.
4 My idol is Kai Mahler. He is right
next to me. He is very famous in Swit-
zerland. He is a true professional. He is
even sponsored by Red Bull!
5 I am convinced that Switzerland will
win the gold medal. The Swiss will be
Olympic champions!
Katy Uhlaender
U.S. Skeleton team
Fabian Boesch
Switzerland freestyle ski team
Dear readers!
After the awesome
Opening Ceremony,
uniting the key aspects
of Russian history; the
voice of Anna Netrebko,
the swift movements
of Diana Vishneva, and
music from the first ball
of Natasha Rostova.
The Olympic Winter
Games are finally of-
ficially open! After the
sports constellations
were highlighted in the
”Fisht“ stadium, the
stars fell beautifully
right there in the arena.
Everyone could make a
wish and after the Sochi
skyline was illuminated
with a beautiful fire-
work display.
Today the light shifts to
the competition venues!
Karina Amangalieva
The Olympic rings
Everyone knows them and they can be seen every-
where in Sochi. We can’t begin to count the number of
pictures taken in front of them as a souvenir.
The Olympic rings were born in 1913. And their cre-
ator was none other than Baron Pierre de Coubertin,
who used them for the first time in the header of a
letter written by his own hand. In an excerpt from the
Olympic Review, he explained that ”These five rings
represent the five parts of the world that have now
acquired Olympism and are willing to accept its fertile
rivalries. The six colours combined reproduce those of
all nations in the Olympics without exception.“
The Rings thus express the activity of the Olympic
Movement and represent the union of the five conti-
nents that meet to provide the whole world’s athletes
at the Olympics. Oringinally though, Coubertin did not
think they representated the continents. He thought
the five colours associated with the white of the flag
represented all of the colours present in the countries
competing in the Olympics without exception.
”151 years! I’m not getting
any younger ... as I am not
of this world anymore, I still
continue to look down, as I
did throughout my life , at my
creation: the Olympics.
In all honesty, I am very proud of
what I achieved. I did not think at
the time that my vision of sport
and Games would transform this
event into one of the most im-
portant cultural events in our his-
tory, affecting billions of people
on earth and inviting the Olympic
spirit into almost every house-
hold on the planet. 119 years
after I created the International
Olympic Committee, it seems
stronger and more stable than
ever. The Olympic Rings I drew
all those years ago are still there
too. They’re everywhere, at the
opening and closing ceremonies,
the oath of the athletes and the
Olympic Museum ceremonies.
But what I ‘m most proud of is
undoubtedly the Olympic Charter
that I wrote to state the Olympic
values that still exist today. It has
changed somewhat since then,
but the non-discrimination, equal-
ity between men and women and
sustainable development are val-
ues ​​that will never die. In Sochi,
117 years after the first Games
in Athens , it seems that the
Games have gotten even closer
to the event and ideals I dreamt
of: billions of people are now in-
terested in sport , thousands of
operations in Russia were held
to promote sport, and more
young people than ever are get-
ting involved in sport. The Winter
Games have changed since 1924
in Chamonix now bobsledding,
downhill skiing, short track, slope-
style, halfpipe, and lots more
events take place. These new dis-
ciplines are exciting ... but I regret
that there isn’t Olympic marching
anymore! I suppose that’s not
very fun though! Here’s a little
secret: if I follow all the competi-
tions very carefully, but I am re-
ally passionate about biathlon,
because I was the French shoot-
ing champion many moons ago.“
”And these Games will no doubt
be the most extraordinary that
anyone has ever seen. Incred-
ible sports venues, a magnified
region, transport infrastructure
for moving quickly to all competi-
tions, protected and highly moti-
vated athletes to compete to the
best of their abilities. Everything
seems ready for it to be a great
show and to promote sport.
My motto truly has become
the Olympic Games,
and is respected to the letter:
Citius, Altius, Fortius.

3. 2nd day of the games
F I E L D OF P L AY
3
Let the Games begin!
The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Games are the most anticipated
events not only for the athletes and guests, but also for millions of viewers
around the world. Traditionally, all Ceremonies’ details are kept a secret and are
revealed to the public only during the event.
The organizers of every Games strive to make the Opening and Closing Ceremonies
unforgettable experiences, and the Games in Sochi are no exception!
The Opening Ceremony of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi was held in the
”Fisht“ Olympic Stadium on 7 February 2014.
More than 3,000 young talents from schools, as well as professional artistic
groups, took part in many of the scenes, which include professional dance, ballet,
acrobatic and circus performances. 2,000 Sochi 2014 volunteers helped in the
organization of the Ceremonies both on stage, behind the scenes and within the
grounds of the Olympic Park. More than 6000 costumes have been made for the
participants of the show. Representatives of 88 national delegations took in the
Parade of Nations. In total, more than 12,000 people were be involved in the
staging of the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games of one of
the most technologically innovative ceremonies ever, which was crowned with a
massive firework display.

4. w o r l d w i d e PA R T N ER S
G E N ER A L PA R T N ER S
«OLVdaily» Published by the Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi, 354340, Triumphalniy st., 1, Sochi, Krasnodar region,
Russia, +7 (8622) 62 32 00. The newspaper is registered by the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications.
Media registration certificate PI № TU23-01247 Editor-in-chief K.A. Amangalieva. Printed by «SochiPress» 354395, Vinogadniy side-st., 1, Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, +7 (8622) 96-08-08.
Order №______ Circulation 3000 copies, distributed free of charge.
4
OLV daily 8 February 2014
2nd day of the Games
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Post Messages
To The Good Luck Wall
Anyone can wish you good luck in Sochi
by posting a message to the video
Good Luck Walls in the IOC Spaces
in each Olympic Village. Encourage your
friends and family to write or send
photos to GoodLuckSochi@gmail.com,
then watch for their messages
to appear on the big screen.
In t h e c l u b
B u l l e t i n b o a r d
@EllenViviani92 What a nice day for the #OpeningCeremony!
Are you #ready for the #Olympics ???
@RyanTHarnden Excited to walk in Opening Ceremony with all
the amazing Canadian athletes. #WeAreWinter#Sochi2014@
CDNOlympicTeam
@ShelleyRudman Another spectacular day and view from the
athlete village this morning! pic.twitter.com/OXqYGilU1E
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In the Clubs
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Olympic Games in Sochi
Поехали!
[poekhali!]
Let’s go!
Allons-y! (fr.)
The words of Yuriy Gagarin,
the first astronaught,
before his flight to space
in 1961. You’ll hear it
today in the Olympic Park
for sure.
Mountain Cluster -3–+2о
с
Coastal Cluster 9–14о
с
4–7 m/s
5–8 m/s
Do you love the pillows here in the
Olympic village but find there are not
enough bananas at breakfast? Is the
athlete lounge far more than you had
expected but the signs on how to get
there confusing? Then let the Interna­
tional Olympic Committee (IOC) know!
The IOC will be conducting both surveys
and focus group sessions to learn more
about your Olympic Games experience.
The surveys aimed at the athletes and
officials staying in the Olympic Village
are in the form of an electronic question-
naire carried out by professional survey-
ors. A Chefs de Mission (CdM) question-
naire will also be handed out to all Na-
tional Olympic Committees (NOCs) via
their pigeon holes at the NOCs services
centre (electronic version also available
on NOCnet).
The survey runs from 9 to 22 February
and can be done in English, French, Ger-
man or Russian. The questions cover a
wide range of subjects from the quality
of the food in the restaurant to how
you found the transportation system
and will allow the IOC to make recom-
mendations to future Organising Com-
mittees on what services should be im-
proved or altered for the next editions
of the Games.
In addition, the IOC will also be organis-
ing Focus Groups for athletes which
should provide a qualitative perspective
on your athletes’ experiences and com-
plement the quantitative information
collected via the survey. More informa-
tion will be shared with your Chef de
Mission regarding the time and place of
these focus groups during the Games.
There will be group discussions conduct-
ed in English and in Russian.
Every athlete and official is encouraged
to share his or her experiences. So let us
know what you think!
Tell Us What You Think
About Your Olympic Experience!
OLV’s photographers are ready
to make a photoshoot of you and your team.
Free of charge, of course.
Just write to OLVdaily@sochi2014.com
IOC/JasonEvans