September 29, 2012 (Russia) – With 500 days before the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, the Organizing Committee has announced its official slogan: “Hot.Cool.Yours.” The slogan is intended to be a universal solution combining innovation and dynamism.

The first word “Hot.” reflects the intensity of sporting battle and the passion of the spectators, and it emphasizes the host location of the Games, the southern resort city of Sochi.

The word “Cool.” references the timing of the Games, the fact that it is Winter Games, as well as alluding to traditional perceptions of Russia in the rest of the world.

The last word “Yours.” symbolizes personal involvement and shows that while the Games is a large-scale national project everybody can share in the victories and the sense of pride.

Pictograms revealed
In addition, the Organising Committee has announced the visual representation of the Olympic sports that will be staged in Sochi: 22 stylised pictograms of sports and Olympic disciplines will be used to guide visitors at the Olympic venues, and appear on tickets, events schedules and Sochi 2014 licensed merchandise.

The new Sochi 2014 pictograms have been carefully created incorporating the look of the first Olympic Games in the history of Russia (Moscow 1980).

Celebrations for 500 days countdown across Russia
Various sports and music events were held in 17 Russian cities in conjunction with the 500-day milestone on 25th September. The culmination of the celebrations was an all-Russia national flashmob, the main participants of which were the Sochi 2014 volunteers drawn from the 26 Volunteer Centres, representing 14 of the country’s regions. At the squares, stadiums and indoor sports complexes in their respective cities, more than 12,000 volunteers participated in the construction of giant Olympic pictograms. In addition to the flashmob, symbolic 500 meter relays representing the winter Olympic sports, were held in the nation’s cities, each dedicated to a different type of sport. In Sochi itself, the participants of the relay demonstrated Snowboarding, covering a set distance on skateboards and passing each other the relay baton.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, President of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee, said: “We have reached another significant milestone: there are now only 500 days remaining until the XXII Olympic Winter Games. In fact, we have entered the finishing straight in our preparations for this extremely important event in Russia’s history. I’m glad that this celebration has managed to involve, both in terms of spectacle and the scale, the whole country into Games preparations.”