On July 4, 2007, for the first time in all the years of participation in the Winter Olympic Games, Russia received the right to become their host. This cannot be explained by luck, because such a success was preceded by very serious work, in which the largest Russian politicians and athletes took part. In addition, Sochi had very strong competitors.
Seven cities claimed the right to host the XXII Winter Olympic Games: Haka in Spain, Sofia in Bulgaria, Pyeongchang in South Korea, Salzburg in Austria, Alma-Ata in Kazakhstan, Borjomi in Georgia, Sochi in Russia. As a result, on June 22, 2006, IOC President Jacques Rogge named three main contenders: Salzburg, Pyeongchang and Sochi. The strongest position was held by Pyeongchang, who had already reached the final of the elections for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but lost to Vancouver with a difference of only 3 votes. The political motive for the application was the unification of the two Koreas. Salzburg was a weaker contender and the Austrians were hoping to win only thanks to the very low budget of the games. In terms of readiness for the Games, Sochi's rivals were ahead, the readiness of their sports facilities was 80%. During the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala, the host city for the Games was selected. Defeated the city of Sochi, beating Pyeongchang by 4 votes (51 to 47).
The Russian team began preparations for the submission of their application two weeks before the start of the session. Rehearsals were held there, in Guatemala. Upcoming performances were worked out to the smallest detail. And yet, two days before the elections, the Russians were still not sure of victory. Each of the candidate cities had an hour to submit their application. Sochi was to perform first. Videos prepared by an international team of specialists were shown.
Vladimir Putin's speech, delivered in English for 5 minutes, made a great impression on the IOC delegation. At the end of his speech, Putin said a few words in French. Long-standing sports traditions and a large number of awards won by Russian athletes at the Olympic Games (293 sets of awards) also served as important factors in favor of the Russian application.
