[1] In 2016, an independent report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed allegations that the Russian Olympic team had been involved in a state-sponsored doping program, active from at least late 2011 through August 2015.

[citation needed] The Sochi Olympic Park was built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretinsky Valley, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from Russia's border with Abkhazia/Georgia.

It also features "The Waters of the Olympic Park" (designed by California-based company WET), a choreographed fountain which served as the backdrop in the medals awards and the opening and closing ceremonies of the event.

[27] In November 2011, IOC President Jacques Rogge was in Sochi and concluded that the city had made significant progress since he last visited eighteen months earlier.

With Rostelecom and Megafon both refusing to operate it, the line was transferred to the ownership of the state enterprise Center for Monitoring & Development of Infocommunication Technologies (Russian: Центр МИР ИТ).

[36] Russian mobile phone operator Megafon expanded and improved Sochi's telecom infrastructure with over 700 new 2G/3G/4G cell towers.

[39] According to the strategy, the capacity of the regional energy network would increase by two and a half times by 2014, guaranteeing a stable power supply during and after the Games.

Earlier plans also include building combined cycle (steam and gas) power stations near the cities of Tuapse and Novorossiysk and construction of a cable-wire powerline, partially on the floor of the Black Sea.

In December 2009, Russian Railways ordered 38 Siemens Mobility Desiro trains for delivery in 2013 for use during the Olympics, with an option for a further 16 partly built in Russia.

[45] At the Port of Sochi, a new offshore terminal 1.5 km (0.93 mi) from the shore allows docking for cruise ships with capacities of 3,000 passengers.

1 (the final total is six) on the combined road (automobile and railway) from Adler to Alpica Service Mountain Resort in the Krasnaya Polyana region.

1 is located near Akhshtyr in Adlersky City District, and includes:[48] Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin stated the road construction costed more than 200 billion rubles.

The system meets BREF standards and employs top available technologies for environment protection, including tertiary treatment with microfiltration.

Retropismo service allows a customer to write with their own stylus or pen on antique paper with further letters, winding string and wax seal affixing.

All the new sites and post offices in Sochi were opened during the Olympics until late night 7 days a week, and employees were trained to speak English.

[68] On 11 February, the Indian Olympic Association was reinstated and India's athletes were allowed the option to compete under their own flag from that time onward.

On 6 April 2011, the IOC accepted a number of events that were submitted by their respective sports federations to be considered for inclusion into the official program of these Olympic Games.

On 28 November 2006, the executive board of the IOC decided not to include ski mountaineering,[91] ski-orienteering,[92] or winter triathlon[93] in the review process of the program.

*   Host nation (Russia) a Legkov and Vylegzhanin were initially disqualified by the IOC for doping offenses in November 2017, and their 2014 Olympic medals (gold and silver respectively) were stripped.

[99][100] A presidential decree signed by President Vladimir Putin took effect on 7 January, requiring that any protests and demonstrations in Sochi and the surrounding area through 21 March (the end of the Paralympics) be approved by the Federal Security Service.

[101] For the duration of the decree, travel restrictions were also in effect in and around Sochi: "controlled" zones, dubbed the "ring of steel" by the media, covered the Coastal and Mountain clusters which encompass all of the Games' venues and infrastructure, including transport hubs such as railway stations.

To enter controlled areas, visitors were required to pass through security checkpoints with X-ray machines, metal detectors and explosive material scanners.

However, while the IOC did state that the letters "[contained] no threat and appears to be a random message from a member of the public", the U.S. ski and snowboarding teams hired a private security agency to provide additional protection during the Games.

Concerns were shown over Russia's policies surrounding the LGBT community, including the government's denial of a proposed Pride House for the Games on moral grounds, and a federal law passed in June 2013 which criminalized the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" among minors.

[151] Following the Games, reports began to emerge that the Russian Olympic team had participated in a state-run doping program, which supplied their athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.

Rodchenkov alleged that a conspiracy of corrupt anti-doping officials, FSB intelligence agents, and compliant Russian athletes used banned substances to gain an unfair advantage during the Games.

[153][154] Rodchenkov stated that the FSB tampered with over 100 urine samples as part of a cover-up, and that at least fifteen of the Russian medals won in Sochi were the result of doping.

[153][154][155][156] The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commissioned an independent report by Richard McLaren, which corroborated claims that Russian authorities had been discreetly swapping out urine samples that tested positive for performance-enhancing substances.

[167] The IAAF had suspended Russia from international track and field events due to the scandal, but did allow Darya Klishina to participate in the Olympics because she was confirmed not to be a part of a doping program, despite claims that surfaced in her appeal that a sample of Klishina's that had been collected on 26 February 2014 had yielded an illegal testosterone/epitestosterone ratio of 8.5 had been subject to a "SAVE" order by the Ministry of Sport on 3 March 2014.

[5][6] Two of them – curler Alexander Krushelnitskiy, who won a bronze medal, and bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva – failed drug tests during the Games.