The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics became the most expensive Olympic Games ever held, at $51 billion, and were later tainted by a confirmed state-sponsored Russian doping scandal.
Key Facts
- Total cost
- $51 billion (from $12B budget)
- Events held
- 98 events in 15 disciplines
- Broadcast audience
- 2.1 billion worldwide
- Dates
- 7–23 February 2014
- Medals stripped from Russians
- 13 (4 later reinstated by CAS)
- New competitions introduced
- 12
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Sochi was selected as host city on 5 July 2007 at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City. Russia sought to showcase its post-Soviet resurgence through the Games, investing heavily in new infrastructure across two venue clusters in Imeretinsky Valley and Krasnaya Polyana, leading to massive cost overruns far beyond the original $12 billion budget.
The XXII Olympic Winter Games were held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia, featuring a record 98 events across 15 disciplines. Twelve new competitions were introduced, including women's ski jumping and slopestyle events. The Games attracted a global broadcast audience of 2.1 billion people and were the first Winter Olympics held in a former Soviet or Warsaw Pact state since the USSR's dissolution.
A 2016 World Anti-Doping Agency report confirmed that Russia had operated a state-sponsored doping program during the Sochi Games. The IOC stripped 13 medals from Russian athletes in 2017, though the Court of Arbitration for Sport reinstated nine. In December 2017, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee, barring it as a body from the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Result
at Fisht Olympic Stadium / Imeretinsky Valley Olympic Park, Sochi