On Friday evening, 3 January 2014, I set off for Sochi in Russia for an adventure lasting almost two months, carrying a Russian phrasebook, my Nokia Lumia 1020 and liquorice from my Progress colleagues.
Huge. That is the word that sums up these Winter Olympics. The Main Media Centre, my workplace, alone covers an area equivalent to 22 football pitches. It provides workspaces for thousands of journalists, four press-conference rooms and studios for broadcasters. A complete “Main Street” offers a hairdresser, pharmacy, gym and food court.
It is extraordinary to watch the Olympic Park and the wider Sochi area develop from a substantial building site in January into a gleaming venue in February. Work continues until the day before the start: laying turf, planting flowers, raising flags and adding snow. Even the reflectors on the new motorway are polished. The place is almost unrecognisable.
Then comes the opening ceremony. It is spectacular, apart from the fifth Olympic ring failing to open, about which enough has already been said and written. I am lucky enough to have a ticket for an excellent spot beside the photographers. The feeling that it is finally beginning is tremendously energising. The most phenomenal fireworks I have ever seen launch the event with a bang.
During the Games, everything seems to accelerate. Working days in the International Olympic Committee office fly by. I also find time to watch speed skating, curling, ice hockey and freestyle skiing, alongside activities around the park, celebrations at Medal Plaza and parties at the Holland Heineken House. In between, I give interviews about my experiences to the NOS, De Telegraaf and even Russian television.
The Dutch team’s results are huge, too. Never before have we won so many medals. The mood is wonderful among the orange-clad supporters in Sochi, and the medals are a hot topic in the Dutch media. The Games’ motto is “Hot. Cool. Yours.” Back in the Netherlands, I can look back on an amazing time that was indeed hot and cool at once. And a little bit mine.
