ROSA KHUTOR, Russia — The first events got under way at the Sochi Winter Olympics Thursday, with Britain's Billy Morgan the first competitor in action in snowboarding. Morgan, 24, was taking part in the slopestyle qualification event at the snowboard park at Rosa Khutor. The first Russian to take part in Sochi was Alexey Sobolev who was the ninth man down the course. “The conditions are good and I can't complain. It would be great if the park stays as it is after the Olympics so we can train here,” he said. Women's freestyle skiing and team figure skating also started Thursday and alpine skiiers will be training ahead of the official opening ceremony Friday. A record number of world dignitaries are coming to Sochi, triple the number that attended the 2010 Vancouver Games, Russian organizers said. Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Sochi organizing committee, told the IOC that 65 heads of state and government and international organizations are expected to attend Russia's first Winter Olympics. “This is a record for Winter Games, three times the number in Vancouver,” he said in his final update to the International Olympic Committee general assembly. The IOC said Wednesday it was aware of 44 world leaders coming to the Games. Chernyshenko's figures could be higher because of the inclusion of international organizations. Sochi organizers have declined to provide the names of the leaders coming to the opening ceremony or the countries they represent. Chinese President Xi Jinping and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are among those attending and meeting with President Vladimir Putin. A number of top world leaders are skipping the Games, however. They include President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German President Joachim Gauck. 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. 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. Chernyshenko told the IOC: “Thank you for your bravery and courage that day. We didn't let you down.” The Olympic flame reached Sochi Wednesday, following a 65,000-kilometer (39,000-mile) route, the longest in the history of the Games. During the journey, the torch relay reached the North Pole, went to the top of Europe's highest mountain, plunged into the world's deepest lake and was even taken into space by Russian cosmonauts. The torchbearers included a 101-year-old man. The relay generated genuine public enthusiasm, featuring famous cultural figures, athletes and other celebrities, and drawing big crowds across Russia. Tens of thousands of police and military personnel have been deployed to guard the Olympics, which face threats of terror attacks by insurgents from the North Caucasus region. — Agencies
