MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) — Organizers of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea will not repeat Russia’s Sochi success, the president of the Russian Skiing and Snowboarding Federation said at a press conference Thursday.
“I believe it is unrealistic to repeat in Korea what happened in Sochi – the infrastructure and everything,” Svetlana Gladysheva said.
“So the Koreans are a bit upset. Actually, Korea is shocked. Local workers would obviously be trained, but holding the Olympics as Sochi did is unlikely,” she added.
Russia spent over $50 billion on the 2014 Winter Sochi Olympics, five times more than original estimates, according to an Olympics preparation commission. The 2014 Sochi Winter Games turned out to be the most expensive Olympics in history. Sochi had to construct almost its entire Olympic infrastructure from scratch.
The Russian Olympic team topped the medal count, winning 13 gold medals and 33 overall, its best all-time result.
The Sochi Olympics were held from February 7 through 23 and were the first Winter Olympics in Russia.
The 2018 Winter Olympic Games will be held in South Korea’s Pyeongchang.
