Essay. Olympic Games. Sochi 2014. Pros and Cons.

Essay. Olympic Games. Sochi 2014. Pros and Cons.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the most important sport event in the world. The modern Olympic Games are no longer just a major athletic forum, but also a great chance for the Olympic Games’ country to improve its economic and social circumstances. In addition to the long-term positive social and economic changes Olympic Games make it possible to obtain some intangible benefits. All these advantages explain the fact why many nations compete for the right to be the Olympic Game’s country. On the other hand there are a lot of reasons why Olympic Games may have negative impact on the country hosting them.

The XXII Olympic Winter Games (from 7 to 23 February 2014) and the XI Paralympic Winter Games (from March 7 to March 16  2014) will be celebrated in Sochi, Russia. As for me, I think the Olympic Games are a project of a national value. First of all,  the Olympic and Paralympic Games will transform the image and economic specialization of a city and even the region of its location. Sochi city’s improvements will  include new transport infrastructure, urban environment, the updating of telecommunications, engineering and energy infrastructure .In other words, the 2014 Games will help transform Sochi from a summer resort, into a year-round resort of the highest international level and also will significantly improve the investment climate in the region. Secondly, the Olympic Games are the event of a national scale and consequently it can induce different positive effects such as popularization of sport values among citizens through the bright Olympic sports shows, development of a feeling of patriotism and national pride and improvement country’s image in the eyes of the international community. Thirdly,the Sochi Paralympic Games will pay international attention to the problems of millions people with a disabilities living in Russia today. Fourthly, the Games will become a stimulus for the development of the volunteer movement.  Special Volunteer Centers were founded on the basis of the 26 Russian educational institutions.

Though some people have a different opinion. They think Olympic Games are a very expensive project and they will have negative impact on our economy. For example in 1976  Monreal Olympics appeared a real failure, the city had to pay out its debts during 30 years. They claim the country`s budget is going to spend enormous sum of money on the Games instead of another economic and social projects and transfers. Besides, they also consider Russian authorities will face with another serious problem: the problem of corruption.

I strongly disagree with these arguments. There is an official data Russian budget will finance only 33% of the total costs and another part (77%) will be financed by private investors. As for corruption, Russian supervisory authorities assured Russian taxpayers that there will be a strong monitoring of budget fund`s spending.

All questions considered I am strongly convinced that the Games in Sochi will bring Russian citizens a great amount of benefits which will be utilized long after the Games themselves become history. Both the improvement of the country`s image in the eyes of the international community and the economic development of the region will transform Sochi into a modern, multifunctional sports, concert and international centre.