“No one has ever counted,” he said, as quoted by Russian agency RIA Novosti. “They started counting when they decided that they should spoil things for Russia so that Russia would feel uncomfortable.”
On Tuesday, IOC President Thomas Bach denounced politicians who used the Sochi Olympics for their own purposes “on the backs of the athletes,” including leaders who publicly snubbed the games without having been invited.
Meanwhile, the IOC praised Sochi organizers for the seven-year project in preparing the game but warned them not to rest yet.
“We have and you have all reasons to be very, very confident but there is no reason to be complacent,” Bach said. “Now the real work starts. We are sure it will be a success, but we have to make it work.”
Jean-Claude Killy, the French ski great who headed the IOC coordination commission for Sochi, said Sochi had undergone an “astounding” transformation in the seven years since it was awarded the games.
Russia has used the games to try to develop a decaying Black Sea summer resort into a year-round tourist destination and winter sports complex. It has spent US$51 billion overall to rebuild the area, including long-term investments in roads, railways, hotels and other infrastructure.
“All of the promises made in 2007 have been kept and spectacularly so,” Killy said. “It's a new city that's going to organize these games and show itself to the world — a city that is reflecting the new Russia.”
Chernyshenko told the IOC: “Thank you for your bravery and courage that day. We didn't let you down.”
Chernyshenko said a record 2,860 athletes from 88 countries had registered for the games so far, and offered further assurances that Russian security will “deliver safe games.”
Tens of thousands of police and military personnel have been deployed to guard the Olympics, which face threats of terror attacks by Islamic insurgents from the North Caucasus region.
In a light moment, Chernyshenko claimed the birth rate had tripled in Sochi in the years leading to the games.
“I don't know why,” he said.
資料來源：http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/europe/2014/02/07/400023/65-world.htm
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