President Vladimir Putin has plugged Russia's bid to host the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, saying his country wanted a chance to show it could stage a successful Winter Games. Putin said Russia, a leading Olympic medal-winning nation that has never hosted the biggest winter sports competition, had long supported the Games movement.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide the winning bid on Wednesday in the Guatemalan capital, with Austria's Salzburg and South Korea's Pyeongchang also in the running.
"Russia has contributed a lot to Olympism and the growth of winter sports," Putin told reporters after meeting Guatemalan President Oscar Berger on Tuesday. "We never had the opportunity to host a Winter Games. "We have enough resources to fulfil the most ambitious project. We are sure we will manage our plans and realise them in the best possible way...rooting the ideas of Olympism in our country."
Putin, who spends his summers in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, said its location and climate made it an ideal candidate. "Sochi is a unique place. It has a mild climate, a great amount of real snow that is necessary for Winter Olympics," he said.
Bid leaders from Sochi have been banking on Putin's vocal support throughout the two-year campaign, as well as his presence during Wednesday's final presentation. It was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's presence two years ago that helped London win the 2012 Olympics. "Tomorrow's speech by the President will in some way be a surprise not only for the IOC but also for us," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov told reporters without elaborating.
As the Russians pushed their candidacy in Guatemala, protesters in Moscow were opposing the bid. About 20 activists, several camouflaged and one wearing a Putin mask, gathered in a square in central Moscow on Tuesday opposing what they said was an environmental disaster in Sochi. Police detained several protesters after a small scuffle.
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