Sochi August 2010 Progress?

The organisers of the London 2012 Olympics may feel they have their work cut out, but Dmitry Chernyshenko - boss of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics - is facing a mammoth task.

His team is having to help transform the Black Sea resort of Sochi, and its surrounding area, into a wintersports arena.

It means the construction of a new winter community in the North Caucasus mountains, the construction of 300 kilometres of roads, 100km of rail, 39 tunnels and 24 thermal and hydro power stations.

"We are well on track," asserts Mr Chernyshenko, a native of Sochi who was handed the games' baton five years ago.

"Our construction site is now probably competing in terms of size with London's," he says.

"It is a most challenging situation."

NHL Player may not participate in the 2014 Winter Hames

While Vancouver was a bonanza, the Sochi Games present bigger challenges — longer travel, the fatigue factor, and the possibility of injuries to the guys who lure ticket-buyers to NHL arenas.

The fact that the International Olympic Committee doesn’t throw even a dime back at the NHL is an impediment as well.

“I can understand,” two-time Olympic gold medallist Scott Niedermayer said this month. “The league has its investment in their players. They want them to remain healthy and on the ice playing for their teams to make money. It’s a business.

“A lot of times it doesn’t get said, but that’s the reality of it. Players are in it as a business to make money, the owners are in it for the same reason and that creates issues and concerns for everybody.”