Sochi opens Winter Games media center

MOSCOW - The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics organizing committee announced Tuesday that the main media center for the Games has entered into service.

"The center's total square is seven times more than that of Moscow's Red Square," the committee's press service told reporters.

The two-storey 158,000 square meter building, located in the Olympic Park, is able to receive 2,000 journalists and over 6,000 television and radio broadcasters representing 70 companies from all over the world, it said.

The center has four halls for news conferences and three rooms for news conference speaker preparation. Up to 18 news conferences, which will be translated into Russian, English, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, will take place every day.

"The Main Media Center creates all conditions for comfortable work of journalists, TV and radio broadcasting companies ... I am confident that during the Games the Media Center will become a real hospitable home for all those who will work here," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted president of the organizing committee Dmitry Chernyshenko as saying.

In addition, there is a three star hotel for journalists, with an area of around 20 hectares, located at a walking distance from the center.

Now the media center will be open from 08:00 am till 23:00 pm. From January 24 to February 24 the centre will work round the clock and on February 25-26 it will work from 08:00 am till 23:00 pm.

The 22nd Winter Olympics, the first Games in Russia, are slated for February 7-23 in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, with 98 sets of medals up for grab.