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Bolshoy Ice Dome

Coordinates: 43°24′16″N 39°57′00″E / 43.4044778°N 39.9499333°E / 43.4044778; 39.9499333
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Bolshoy Ice Dome
The interior of the arena during the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships opening ceremony
Map
LocationSochi, Russia
Coordinates43°24′16″N 39°57′00″E / 43.4044778°N 39.9499333°E / 43.4044778; 39.9499333
OperatorInternational Ice Hockey Federation[1]
Capacity12,000[1]
Construction
Opened2012[1]
Construction costUS$180 million
Tenants
2014 Winter Olympics
2013 IIHF World U18 Championships

The Bolshoy Ice Dome (‹See Tfd›Russian: Большой Ледовый дворец) is an indoor sports arena located in Sochi, Russia. Opened in 2012, it has a capacity of 12,000 and forms part of the Coastal Cluster of venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics. It hosted the ice hockey competition of the 2014 Olympics, serving as the main venue for the men's tournament and hosting the medal matches for the women's tournament. The arena was designed to resemble a frozen water droplet.

Name and location

The arena was named "Bolshoy", meaning "major" or "great" in Russian.[2] This highlights the integral role of ice hockey at the Olympics,[3] which has been dubbed "the most popular sport" of the Games by the organizers themselves.[1] Furthermore, the name was chosen due to its universal familiarity in other countries, in addition to its allusion to the Bolshoi Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet and other great Russian accomplishments.[1][2]

The Ice Dome is situated in the Coastal Cluster zone of venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics.[1] It serves as the main arena for the men and women's ice hockey tournament throughout the Games. It is the only venue in the Olympic Park located on top of a hill,[4] and is less than 1,000 feet (300 m) away from Shayba Arena, which is the secondary ice hockey venue that hosts mainly preliminary round matches.[2]

Structure and facilities

The construction of the Bolshoy Ice Dome started in 2009[5] and finished in 2012.[1] It was designed by architect firm Mostovik[6] and completed at a cost of approximately US$180 million,[7][8] although ITAR-TASS estimates the cost to be as high as $300 million.[5] The exterior structure of the Ice Dome was designed to resemble a frozen ice droplet.[1][3] It has also drawn comparisons to a Fabergé egg, due to the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) resembling the "jewel-encrusted surface" of the famous Russian art piece.[6] The roof of the dome is mostly silver in colour[1] and is covered with aluminium panels.[2] It is decorated with 38,000 LED lights which illuminate the outside of the arena at night.[2][9] The roof also doubles as a scoreboard that displays the live score of the game being played inside and an animation of a hockey puck whenever a goal is scored.[10] However, it famously did not display the final score after the United States defeated the hosts Russia 3–2 in an overtime shootout during the 2014 Winter Olympics.[11][12]

In the arena's interior, the 12,000 seats are arranged in bowl-like configuration. The concourse features 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2) of glazed glass, which enables spectators to have a view of the Caucasus Mountains.[2] The hockey rink's dimensions are 60 metres (200 ft) × 30 metres (98 ft), in line with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) specifications. This contrasts with the dimensions of the previous Olympics, which utilized National Hockey League (NHL) sized rinks that are 4 metres (13 ft) narrower in width.[13] The dome uses heat transfer fluids on the ice and in the air conditioning system. This helps to preserve the quality of the ice, as well as moderate the temperature within the arena so that spectators are kept warm while maintaining the coolness of the ice.[2][14]

Events

In order to test the venues before the Olympics, the Bolshoy Ice Dome served as one of the venues for the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships.[15] As the main venue for the 2014 Olympic ice hockey competition, the Bolshoy Ice Dome hosted most of the preliminary round games and almost all the playoff round matches for the men's tournament, while hosting solely the medal matches of the women's tournament.[16][17] On February 20, it held the gold medal match for the women's tournament, which saw Canada overcome a 0–2 deficit against the United States to tie the game with less than a minute of regulation time remaining, before scoring in overtime to secure their fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.[18][19] The arena hosted the gold medal game of the men's tournament three days later on 23 February – the final gold medal of the 2014 Games up for contention – in which Canada defeated Sweden by a score of 3–0. In doing so, the Canadian team won an Olympic gold medal outside of North America for the first time in 62 years and became the first team since the Soviet Union in 1984 to finish the tournament with a perfect record.[20]

Future

After the conclusion of the Olympics, the arena will continue to host a variety of sports, in addition to becoming an entertainment centre and concert venue.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Bolshoy Ice Dome – Venues". Sochi2014.com. Sochi 2014 Olympics. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Newcomb, Tim (9 January 2014). "First look: Sochi Olympic hockey will live in lights and ice domes". SI.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Sochi 2014: Olympic venue guide". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  4. ^ Krawczynski, Jon (15 February 2014). "Sochi Scene: Bolshoy is Olympic hockey cathedral". The News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Sochi 2014 Olympic Facilities". Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS). 3 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  6. ^ a b Richardson, Phyllis (12 February 2014). "Sochi and beyond: A look at the venues for the most expensive Olympic Games". Gizmag. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  7. ^ "81 Days to Sochi: The coastal cluster". Sportsnet. Rogers Media. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Olympic venues put on show of their own". KXAN-TV. NBC. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  9. ^ Minutillo, Josephine (February 2014). "Tour Sochi's Striking Olympic Stadiums". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Bolshoy Ice Dome Roof In Sochi Acts As Hockey Scoreboard (Photo)". NESN.com. New England Sports Network. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  11. ^ Johnston, Patrick (15 February 2014). "Bolshoy Ice Dome usually shows hockey scores – except when Russia loses". Canada.com. Postmedia News. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  12. ^ Singer, Mike (15 February 2014). "Look: Bolshoy Ice Dome doesn't display final score of USA–Russia". CBS Sports. CBS. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  13. ^ "Big ice in Sochi 2014". IIHF.com. International Ice Hockey Federation. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  14. ^ "All about the Sochi 2014 venues". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. January 7, 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  15. ^ "Sochi 2014 taking shape". IIHF.com. International Ice Hockey Federation. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Ice Hockey Draw" (PDF). Olympic.ca. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Canada remain cool despite past shortcomings on Olympic-size ice hockey rinks". The National. Abu Dhabi. Reuters. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  18. ^ MacGregor, Roy (20 February 2014). "Canadian women's hockey team wins Olympic gold with stunning comeback". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  19. ^ Loney, Heather (20 February 2014). "Canada wins gold in women's hockey, beating USA in overtime". Global News. Global Television Network. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  20. ^ Duhatschek, Eric (23 February 2014). "Canada captures hockey gold with shutout win over Sweden". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
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