IOC praises Sochi 2014 construction progress

The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday praised the organizers of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics for the considerable headway made in constructing the competition venues. The IOC's coordination commission chief Jean-Claude Killy was quoted in a statement from Sochi organizers as saying that all the facilities needed for test events early next year should be ready on time. "We have seen continued progress in the development of the sporting venues both in the coastal cluster and in the mountains," he was quoted as saying at the end of a two-day visit. "I'm sure the athletes who come to Sochi for the test competitions and the Games themselves will be impressed with the level of preparation of the sports facilities. ... The Sochi team deserves the highest praise for the progress it has been able to make over the last six months." For it's first-ever Winter Games, Russia is building everything from scratch in a southern patch of the country on the Black Sea that organizers have dubbed the world's biggest building site. Concerns were initially high about the viability of constructing so much in so little time, but the IOC has allayed the fears during multiple inspections over the last few years.