Snow fall in Yokohama report

Snow fall in Yokohama report

 

06:40 JST We started work. We are in local area in Yokohama city.

 

07:00 JST When we woke up, and watched outside from small window in our room, heavy snow fall around us in Yokohama. We watched Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games Men's Figure Skate TV Live before we slept last night.

 

07:00 JST We reported snow fall to Yokohama AFP.

 

07:15 JST Train delay and flight from Haneda Air-Port stopped. : TV news.

 

07:30 JST Not so cold in the warm room.

 

08:00 JST Many news are in stock.

 

08:10 JST We took a movie for out side.

 

12:30 JST Lunch.

 

14:30 JST We started work.

 

15:00 JST Many news are in stock.

 

16:50 JST Toshiki Shirose went to out side because of tabacco shopping. Today is Pay-Day.

 

17:10 JST Long leather coat (Brand is Intermezzo), pocket digital camera, iPhone, purse, long tall basket shoes. Out side was a blizzard. Snow fall was deep on foot, but it can walk easier than thin snow fall for Toshiki Shirose (Amateur winter sport athlete). Took a few photographs around us. Out side was look like a town in ski resorts in a movie 'Take me to ski (私をスキーに連れてって)'. You can make same image with our town as around condominium resort mansion in Naeba ski resort in Nagano, out side temperature is the same too. Cars are with 'car chain equip alert'. Snow fall was a heavier than last week.

 

17:30 JST Returned from tabacco shopping. Bought 4 tabacco boxes for 2 days.

 

18:00 JST Heavy snow is falling, bllizard.

 

18:05 JST 'Go to out side at night time is a too dangerous' is the same with the ski resort towns.

 

(R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 14 Friday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Sedes de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de Sochi Venues Olympic Winter Games in Sochi

Sedes de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de Sochi

 

[caption id="attachment_12197" align="alignnone" width="400"] (La ceremonia de apertura de los Juegos de Sochi (Rusia), en el Estadio Olímpico Fisht, el domingo el 7 de febrero de 2014 la Romana (AFP, Jonathan Nackstrand)) (The opening ceremony of the Games in Sochi (Russia), in Olympic Fisht Stadium on Sunday February 7, 2014 The Roman (AFP, Jonathan Nackstrand))[/caption]

 

(AFP)

 

Sochi — Las pruebas de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de Sochi se desarrollan en dos sectores que distan unos cincuenta kilómetros: la sede de la montaña, donde se disputarán los deportes de deslizamiento y alpinos, y la sede del mar, donde se disputarán las pruebas sobre hielo.

 

Sede del mar

 

-------------

 

- El Estadio Olímpico Fisht: En este recinto, con una capacidad para 40.000 espectadores, se celebró la ceremonia de apertura de los Juegos, el 7 de febrero, y tendrá lugar la ceremonia de clausura, el 23 de febrero. Tras los Juegos, el estadio acogerá partidos del Mundial de Fútbol que se organizará en Rusia en 2018.

 

- El Palacio de Hielo Bolshoi: Un pabellón grande con forma redondeada y futurista en el que se disputan los partidos de hockey sobre hielo, con una capacidad para 12.000 espectadores. Los encuentros de hockey también se juegan en otro pabellón.

 

- Shayba Arena: Segundo pabellón donde se jugará el hockey sobre hielo. Su nombre en ruso evoca el disco de caucho con el que que se juega. Con una capacidad para 7.000 personas.

 

- El Centro de Patinaje Iceberg: Un edificio al que pueden asistir 12.000 espectadores.

 

- Adler Arena: Recinto ovalado que alberga las pruebas de patinaje de velocidad, con una capacidad para 8.000 personas.

 

- El Centro de Curling Ice Cubre: Un edificio desmontable con 3.000 asientos.

 

Sede de Montaña

 

---------------

 

- Centro Alpino Rosa Khutor: La estación de deportes de invierno más grande de las montañas de Krasnaia Polaina. En ella se disputan las pruebas de esquí alpino. Se pueden dar citar hasta 10.000 espectadores.

 

- Extreme Park Rosa Khutor: Centro que alberga las puebas de snowboard y freestyle, con una capacidad para 4.000 espectadores.

 

- Centro de Esquí de Fondo y Biatlón Laura: En este complejo, se disputan las pruebas de biatlón y de esquí de fondo. Puede acoger a 9.600 personas.

 

- Centro de Saltos RusSki Gorki: El nombre es un juego de palabras que se puede traducir como 'montañas rusas', donde se celebran las pruebas de salto y combinada nórdica, con capacidad también para 9.600 espectadores.

 

- Centro de Deslizamiento Sanki: El centro de deportes de deslizamiento (bobsleigh, skeleton y luge), con una capacidad para 9.000 aficionados.

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. Todos los derechos reservados.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 9 domingo febrero 2014 la Romana)

 

 

Venues Olympic Winter Games in Sochi

 

(AFP)

 

Sochi - Tests of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi are developed in two sectors that are approximately fifty kilometers : The headquarters of the mountain, where snow sports and alpine will be played, and the headquarters of the sea, where the tests will be played on ice.

 

Headquarters Marine

 

-------------

 

- The Olympic Stadium Fisht : In this room, with a capacity for 40,000 spectators, the opening ceremony of the Games was held on February 7, and will be the closing ceremony on 23 February. After the Games, the stadium will host matches of the World Cup to be held in Russia in 2018.

 

- The Bolshoi Ice Palace : A large pavilion with rounded, futuristic where ice hockey matches, with a capacity for 12,000 spectators jostle. The hockey games are also played in another flag.

 

- Shayba Arena: Second pavilion where ice hockey is played. Its name evokes the Russian rubber disk with which it is played. With a capacity for 7,000 people.

 

- The Iceberg Skating Center : A building that can assist 12,000 spectators.

 

- Adler Arena: Oval enclosure that houses the speed skating events, with a capacity for 8,000 people.

 

- Curling Center Ice Covers: A demountable building with 3,000 seats.

 

Head Mountain

 

---------------

 

- Rosa Khutor Alpine Cross: Station largest sports mountains Krasnaia Spat winter. In it the Alpine ski dispute. Quote can be given up to 10,000 spectators.

 

- Extreme Park Rosa Khutor : Center which houses those tests snowboard and freestyle, with a capacity for 4,000 spectators.

 

- Center Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon Laura : In this complex, testing biathlon and cross country skiing are held. It can accommodate 9,600 people.

 

- Diving Center Russki Gorky : The name is a play on words that can be translated as 'coasters', where the show jumping and Nordic combined held, with capacity for 9,600 spectators also.

 

- Sanki Sliding Centre : The center sliding sports (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton), with a capacity for 9,000 fans.

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 9 Sunday February 2014 The Roman)

(Text Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 10 Monday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Vogt wins first women's ski jump gold, Takanashi fourth

Vogt wins first women's ski jump gold, Takanashi fourth

 

Rosa Khutor (Russia) (AFP)

 

Germany's Carina Vogt made history on Tuesday, winning the first ever women's ski jumping event at an Olympic Games in a nail-biting finale that left favourite Sara Takanashi off the podium.

 

Vogt, who had led after the first run, grabbed a total 247.4 points with jumps of 103 and 97.5 metres, and sank to her knees after seeing the results.

 

Austrian favourite and 2011 world champion Daniela Iraschko-Stolz was second with 246.2 points, ahead of France's Coline Mattel at 245.2 points.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 11 Tuesday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Geisenberger wins Germany's second luge gold

Geisenberger wins Germany's second luge gold

 

Rosa Khutor (Russia) (AFP)

 

Germany's Natalie Geisenberger won her first Olympic gold medal in women's luge singles on Tuesday and the second for her country in three days.

 

Another German, Tatjana Huefner, who came to Sochi as reigning champion, was second, 1.139sec behind the winner, while Erin Hamlin finished in third place winning the US team's first singles medal after 50 years of trying.

 

The 26-year-old three-time world champion Geisenberger, who had a commanding 0.766sec lead after the first two races on Monday, finished with a combined time of three min 19.768sec after the four runs.

 

The third run featured a new track record.

 

Compatriot Felix Loch won the men's event on Sunday.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 11 Tuesday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Jenny Jones claims Britain's first ever snow medal

Jenny Jones claims Britain's first ever snow medal

 

Rosa Khutor (Russia) (AFP)

 

Veteran Jenny Jones made history on Sunday as she won Britain's first ever Winter Olympics medal on the snow.

 

Jones, 33, claimed bronze in the women's slopestyle snowboarding competition after a second run score of 87.25, behind Jaime Anderson (95.25) of the US in gold and Finland's Enni Rukajarvi (92.50).

 

The competitor from Bristol had made a name for herself earlier in the week by revealing she used to keep a teabag in her bra as a good luck charm.

 

Although that has long since been abandoned, her luck, seemingly, did not run out.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 9 Sunday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Hamelin counting on skinsuit to edge short track rivals in Sochi

Hamelin counting on skinsuit to edge short track rivals in Sochi

 

Sochi (Russia) (AFP)

 

Canadian short track star Charles Hamelin will be counting on a new aerodynamic skinsuit in Sochi starting Monday.

 

Short track gets underway at the Iceberg Skating Palace with the men's 1500m final and the women's 500m heats and 3000m relay semi-finals also featuring on the first day of action.

 

Hamelin won gold in the 500m and the 5000m relay in Vancouver and is the highest-ranked male short-tracker in Sochi -- ranked top in the World Cup at 1000m and 1500m, second at 500m.

 

And the 29-year-old will be competing wearing the latest in high-tech clothing for speed skaters -- a spandex bodysuit.

 

"It is based on the aerodynamics of the fabric," he explained.

 

"We are told this suit is faster and more comfortable. Knowing that in our minds will make us faster in competition."

 

He added: "I want to be the first man to win the 500m in two Olympic Games."

 

American JR Celski, bronze medallist in the 1500m and the 5000m relay, and who set the 500m world record in 2012, is a contender for multiple medals.

 

Canada's Marianne St-Gelais and Italy's Arianna Fontana are hoping to benefit from Wang's absence to move up from their silver and bronze in the 500m in Vancouver.

 

The Dutch women -- Jorien Ter Mors, and sisters Sanne and Yara Van Kerkhof -- are also medal hopes.

 

Short track includes eight events -- 500m, 1,000m, and 1,500m individually for both men and women and the relays -- men's 5000m and women's 3000m.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 10 Monday February 2014 The Roman)

 

First Sochi medals up for grabs after opening ceremony

First Sochi medals up for grabs after opening ceremony

 

[caption id="attachment_12087" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Norway's biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, seen during a training session at the Laura Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon Centre in Rosa Khutor, near Sochi, on 5 Wednesday February 2014 The Roman (AFP/File, Kirill Kudryavtsev))[/caption]

 

By Stuart Williams (AFP)

 

Sochi — Olympic athletes were on Saturday competing for the first medals of the Sochi Winter Games after Russia staged a thrilling opening ceremony that impressed even foreign sceptics.

 

President Vladimir Putin late Friday declared open the 22nd Winter Olympics in a ceremony that took 40,000 people in the Fisht Stadium and TV viewers around the world on a lightning tour through Russian history.

 

Thousands of fireworks exploded above the venue on the Black Sea coast in the ceremony.

 

"We missed this for so many years... a pride for our country, a feeling for her power, unity and greatness. Yesterday, we felt it," the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily said.

 

Five gold medals are up for grabs.

 

The first gold will likely come in the women's cross-country skiathlon, while Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, 40, will become the joint highest medal winner in Winter Olympics history if he makes the podium in the sprint.

 

Women will seek gold in the spectacular moguls freestyle event, the men's snowboard slopestyle will be decided after a succession of spectacular crashes while the endurance kings of speed skating will face off in the lung-busting men's 5,000 metres.

 

The high-octane ceremony, devised by the powerful boss of Russia's Channel One television Konstantin Ernst, got off to a rocky start when one of five illuminated artificial snowflakes that were supposed to morph into the Olympic rings failed to open, leaving just four rings.

 

But organisers brushed off the mishap, admitting that they covered up the glitch on Russian state television by quickly inserting footage of the segment they had recorded days earlier.

 

"There is a saying that you have to kick out the uneven part of a perfectly polished ball to understand how perfect it is," he said.

 

The Russian team won huge cheers as they entered to the song "Nas Ne Dogonyat" ("Not Gonna Get Us") by female pop duo Tatu.

 

In towards Russia's proud sporting past, the Olympic cauldron was lit by two triple gold-winning Soviet winter sports icons -- figure skater Irina Rodnina and ice hockey legend Vladislav Tretyak.

 

The flame had been brought into the stadium by US-based Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova and the final relay included Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champion Alina Kabayeva.

 

Even the foreign press, which have been hugely critical of Russia in the days up to the Games, heaped praised on the ceremony.

 

"For Russia last night it marked its revival as a post-Soviet powerhouse, confident of its seat at the top table after two decades of doubt and despondency," Britain's Daily Mail wrote.

 

'Keep politics out of Olympics'

 

But IOC President Thomas Bach made an impassioned call for politics to stay out of sport, saying "have the courage to address your disagreements in political dialogue and not on the back of your athletes".

 

The security concerns that have shadowed these Games were underlined when a Ukrainian man attempted to hijack an airliner en route from Ukraine to Turkey and divert it to Sochi.

 

But Turkish military jets forced the plane to land in Istanbul, where security teams overpowered the man, said to be drunk.

 

The United States has already announced a temporary ban on liquids and gels in hand luggage on Russia-bound flights, following a warning that militants could stuff explosives into toothpaste.

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France -Presse, 8 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

 

A representation of the Kremlin with balloons

A representation of the Kremlin with balloons

 

[caption id="attachment_12063" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Adrian Dennis)[/caption]

 

Una representación

 

Una representación con globos del Kremlin durante la Ceremonia de Apertura de los Juegos de Invierno de Sochi, el 7 de febrero de 2014.

 

A representation

 

A representation of the Kremlin with balloons during the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, on February 7, 2014.

 

(AFP - Adrian Dennis)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 8 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

(Text Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news, Agence France -Presse, 8 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

The Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics

The Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics

 

[caption id="attachment_12057" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Alberto Pizzoli)[/caption]

 

Maria and flame

 

Russian tennis player and Olympic medalist Maria Sharapova runs with the Olympic torch during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics at the Fisht Olympic Stadium on February 7, 2014 in Sochi.

 

(AFP - Alberto Pizzoli)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 8 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Russia plans ceremony to sway sceptical world

Russia plans ceremony to sway sceptical world

 

Sochi (Russia) (AFP)

 

Russia on Friday officially opens in Sochi its first ever Winter Olympics with the ceremony attended by many of heads of state and aimed at impressing a sceptical world with an unforgettable spectacle.

 

With a hard act to follow after show-stopping Summer Olympics opening ceremonies 2012 in London, Russia is expected to pull out all the stops to give the world an evening to remember.

 

The ceremony starts, with symbolic timing, at 2014 local time (1614 GMT) in the spectacular new Fisht Stadium on the shores of the Black Sea and will mark the beginning of one of the most controversial Olympics in recent history.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has spearheaded the Sochi Games from the bid in 2007, will be at the ceremony along with over 40 other heads of state and leaders.

 

These will include Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych who is facing a protest uprising at home.

 

Their appearance will also pave the way for several days of behind-the-scenes diplomacy at the Olympics where the Kremlin hopes to strengthen ties with key allies in an informal setting.

 

Russia is expected to spare little expense in the ceremony, details of which have been kept under wraps but which is expected to show the world a history of Russian culture and power.

 

"The ceremony will be one of the most exciting and visual ever," the head of the Sochi Organising Committee Dmitry Chernyshenko told reporters.

 

"This is a theatre with a 40,000 seat capacity" he said of the Fisht stadium.

 

"It can allow the realisation of any creative thought."

 

Some of Russia’s most decorated cosmonauts -– including Sergei Krikalev who was famously stranded in space on the Mir station when the USSR collapsed -- will raise the Russian flag to the top of the stadium.

 

However, who will light the Olympic cauldron is a closely-guarded secret, with Putin insisting it is the choice of the organising committee and not for him to interfere.

 

Russia’s team will be led out by flag-bearer Alexander Zubkov, a bobsleigh pilot and one of the most respected sportsmen in the country who has represented Russia at every Winter Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002.

 

There have been persistent rumours that the Russian female pop duo Tatu –- hugely popular a decade ago -- will be involved in the ceremony in some form.

 

Although heterosexual in real life, the two girls made heavy use of lesbian schoolgirl imagery in pop videos and their name can translate as “This girl loves that girl.”

 

Their involvement could be seen as a riposte -– albeit somewhat warped –- to Western allegations that Russia is intolerant of homosexuality.

 

'We answered the question'

 

For many elder Russians, the ceremony may bring a pang of nostalgia for the 1980 Moscow Summer Games which are still remembered fondly in particular for the cute mascot Misha the bear.

 

But it remains to be seen whether the Sochi opening ceremony will shift the cloud of controversy which is still hanging over the Games.

 

However Russian officials insist the country is ready to hold a great show and has every right to be the host of the 22nd Winter Games.

 

"The main question people asked was whether we would manage it," said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.

 

"The answer is clear -- we have implemented the biggest investment project in recent Olympic history."

 

(Agence France -Presse, 7 Friday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Old boys club at Sochi as Miller, Jamaica hit slopes

Old boys club at Sochi as Miller, Jamaica hit slopes

 

Sochi (Russia) (AFP)

 

American skier Bode Miller and Jamaican bobsleigh pilot Winston Watts, with a combined age of 82, surged into the Winter Olympics spotlight Thursday, 24 hours before the official start of the most expensive Games in history.

 

Miller, 36, began his campaign for a sixth Olympic medal by clocking the fastest time in the first men's downhill training run in Rosa Khutor, high above the Olympics' Black Sea Sochi hub.

 

The colourful American was quickest in a time of 2min 07.75 sec but warned much could still happen before Sunday's medal race.

 

"It's great to win the first training run (but) it really is going to be about who improves the most from here, who learns this course the best," he said.

 

Second fastest was Swiss sensation Patrick Kueng, just 0.03sec behind Miller's time, followed by Austria's medal hope Matthias Mayer.

 

Where Miller was smooth, the women's downhillers suffered bumps and bruises before Austria's Anna Fenninger topped the standings of their first downhill outing.

 

But that came only after a lengthy stoppage as organisers were forced to alter the configuration of the final jump.

 

The women got under way on schedule but only four runners had come down the 2.7 km course when the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided to call a halt and hold the programme again.

 

Italy's Daniela Merighetti suffered a heavy fall, and course workers were quickly on site to shave snow off the lip of the final jump.

 

"I was thrown five metres into the air. It's not the length of the jump that causes the problem so much as the height, especially as it comes after a blind bend," said the Italian, who escaped serious injury but did not take part in the re-held session.

 

Fenninger timed 1:41.73 after the re-start, finishing 0.21sec ahead of Fraenzi Aufdenblatten of Switzerland, with American veteran Julia Mancuso, the 2010 Olympic downhill silver medallist, third quickest.

 

Jamaica's Olympic bobsleigh team, destined to become the darlings of the Games, pleaded with their adoring fans to stop sending money to fund their Sochi rags-to-riches story.

 

Pilot Watts, 46, admitted that the Internet campaign to fund their trip had been such a success that he and brakeman Marvin Dixon feared they would be damned as greedy opportunists if they didn't call a halt.

 

"The donations were just coming on and on. We had to stop them. We've called a press conference to do it," said Watts after almost $80,000 poured into the empty Jamaica coffers, with $178,000 gathered in total, including from sponsors and the national federation.

 

"We just didn't want them to think that we're greedy people."

 

The fast and furious men's snowboarding slopestyle event made its Olympic debut on a course that has been widely condemned as too dangerous.

 

Reigning X-Games champion Maxence Parrot of Canada top-scored with 97.50 points although it was Britain's Billy Morgan who had the honour of becoming the first competitor in action at the 2014 Olympics.

 

Later Thursday, Russian figure skating legend Yevgeny Plushenko will battle to get nation off to a golden start in the team competition.

 

The inaugural 10-team event kicks off in the Iceberg Skating Palace with the men's short programme.

 

Canada, Russia and the United States are favourites with strong skaters in all four categories -- men, women, pairs and ice dancing.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 6 Thursday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Olympic Rings

Olympic Rings

 

[caption id="attachment_11815" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Fabrice Coffrini)[/caption]

 

Anneaux

 

Les skieurs autrichiens (de g à d) Georg Streitberger, Klaus Kroell, Max Franz, posent dans les anneaux olympiques à Rosa Khutor, avant le début des jeux d'hiver de Sotchi en Russie.

 

Rings

 

Austrian skiers (from left to right) Georg Streitberger, Klaus Kroell, Max Franz, pose in the Olympic rings Rosa Khutor, before the Sochi Winter Games in Russia.

 

(AFP - Fabrice Coffrini)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 5 wednesday February 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 6 Thursday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Putin takes Olympic officials to meet Sochi leopards

Putin takes Olympic officials to meet Sochi leopards

 

[caption id="attachment_11926" align="alignnone" width="375"] (Russia’s President Vladimir Putin caresses a Persian leopard cub as he visits the Persian leopard breeding and rehabilitation centre in the National Park in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on 4 Tuesday February 2014 The Roman (AFP Photo/Alexei Nikolsky))[/caption]

 

Sochi (Russia) (AFP)

 

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday took senior members of the IOC to meet leopards that are to be re-introduced in the Sochi region, in an attempt by Russia to show the Games are positive for the environment.

 

However one of the leopards called Grom (Thunder) took none to happily to the arrival of the large group of guests and attacked two journalists inside the cage, state Russian media said.

 

Putin took Jean Claude Killy, the French skiing legend who has been the International Olympic Committee's pointman for Sochi, and IOC Executive Director Gilbert Felli in his own jeep to the nature reserve above Sochi.

 

Russia is working to reintroduce the Persian leopard to the mountains above the city as part of measures aimed at showing that the Olympic Games will benefit and not hurt the environment.

 

"The ecological situation has improved many times over," said Putin.

 

"According to some estimates, it has improved by a factor of four."

 

"There are questions which always crop up during such huge construction but in general the situation has not worsened but improved."

 

However environmentalists scoff at such claims, saying that the Games have irreversibly damaged once virgin environments by the sea and in the mountains.

 

After six-month old Grom had lashed out at journalists, state television noted that the media left the cage and Putin went in himself to calm the animal.

 

One reporter was scratched on the hand and one lightly bitten in the knee, the RIA Novosti news agency said.

 

State television showed Putin cradling Grom on his knee with the animal now seemingly at ease.

 

"I like animals, it seems I have a feeling for them," said Putin.

 

"We liked each other."

 

Putin is well known for his meetings with wild animals which he uses to burnish his hardman image.

 

As well as leopards, in the past he has met beasts including a tiger and a polar bear.

 

Three pairs of adult leopards being kept in the big cages of the reserve have already given birth to four leopards in the last months.

 

Leopards have been extinct in this part of Russia since the 1950s.

 

To start the reintroduction programme, Russia received two male leopards as gifts from Turkmenistan and two females from Iran.

 

The first two offspring come from another leopard pair who came from Lisbon zoo.

 

But then a Turkmen-Iranian partnership then produced two more leopards.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 4 Tesday February 2014 The Roman)

The Olympic cauldron is testing

The Olympic cauldron is testing

 

[caption id="attachment_11518" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Antonin Thuillier)[/caption]

 

Testing the cauldron

 

The Olympic cauldron is tested prior to the start of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

 

(AFP - Antonin Thuillier)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 29 Wednesday January 2014 The Roman)

 

Gorki Media Center Opens its Doors for Media and Broadcasters

Gorki Media Center Opens its Doors for Media and Broadcasters

 

[caption id="attachment_11387" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Gorki Media Center Opens its Doors for Media and Broadcasters, 24 Friday January 2014 The Roman (Photo Sochi 2014 Olympics Official News))[/caption]

 

In the Sochi 2014 Mountain Cluster the second key venue for media and broadcasters the Gorki Media Center has officially opened.

 

Located at an altitude of 540 m above sea level, the Media Center is set to receive around 4,000 television and radio broadcasters and 500 media representatives from around the world at the highlight of the Games time.

 

The Gorki Media Center with a total area of more than 30,000 sq. m. includes the Mountain Broadcasting Center and Gorki Press Center, and comprises everything for comfortable and effective work of journalists and broadcasters.

 

From January 24 to February 1, the Gorki Media Center operates from 8.00 to 22.00.

 

From February 2 to 24, Gorki Media Center will be open around the clock, and from February 25 to 26, it will operate from 8.00 to 22.00.

 

The media center building is located a 10-35 minute drive from the Olympic venues of the Mountain Cluster, and only 48 kilometers away from the Main Media Center and Olympic venues in the Coastal Cluster.

 

The Gorki Media Center serves as a transport hub for representatives of the press, television and radio broadcasters in the Mountain Cluster, from where buses will take reporters to all sports venues in the mountains, to the Olympic Park and Main Media Center, and also to media hotels.

 

It takes less than an hour to get from the Gorki Media Center to the Main Media Center by shuttle.

 

At the transport information desk, media can receive information on the provision of transport services in the Mountain Cluster.

 

The Gorki Media Center is located in close proximity to media hotels with total capacity of 1,736 beds and it takes media representatives only 10-15 minutes to get to work.

 

On the roof of the Gorki Media Center there are 4 studios and 6 positions for live broadcasts with a stunning view of the Krasnaya Polyana and snow-capped mountains.

 

The Gorki Media Center offers a food court, a coffee shop and vending machines with food and beverages.

 

In the common area, along so-called "Main Street" one can find a post office, a pharmacy, a laundry, a supermarket, a "Sochi 2014" official outlet and a relaxation room with massage chairs.

 

http://www.sochi2014.com/

 

(Sochi 2014 Olympics Official News, 24 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Downhill queen Vonn to miss Sochi Winter Olympics

Downhill queen Vonn to miss Sochi Winter Olympics

 

Paris (AFP)

 

American ski champion Lindsey Vonn is to miss next month's Sochi Winter Olympics due to a right knee injury she sustained nearly a year ago, she announced on Tuesday.

 

"I am devastated to announce that I will not be competing in Sochi," Vonn said on her Facebook page.

 

"I did everything I possibly could to somehow get strong enough to overcome having no ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) but the reality has sunk in that my knee is just too unstable to compete at this level.

 

"I'm having surgery soon so that I can be ready for the World Championships at home in Vail next February.

 

"On a positive note, this means there will be an additional spot so that one of my teammates can go for gold."

 

The 29-year-old Vonn, who has 59 World Cup race victories to her credit and who is the reigning Olympic downhill champion, badly injured the knee while competing in a super-G at the World Championships in February.

 

After reconstructive surgery on the joint and a lengthy layoff, Vonn returned to World Cup competition at Lake Louise, Canada in early December, but only after she injured the same knee again while training in Colorado in November.

 

At Lake Louise, Vonn was 40th in the first downhill, 11th in a second downhill and fifth in a super-G.

 

She then competed in a downhill at Val d'Isere in the French Alps just before Christmas, under the watchful eye of boyfriend Tiger Woods, but failed to finish the race as she skied out.

 

"Unfortunately I have no ACL and it just gave out on me," she said at the time.

 

Vonn said she would compete in just one or two races before the Winter Olympics in the Russian ski resort of Sochi from February 7.

 

Her absence will deprive the Games of one of the biggest stars and draws in winter sport with her romance with Woods making headlines worldwide.

 

The head of the US Ski and Snowboard Association, Bill Marolt said that he was confident Vonn would be able to bounce back from the injury in time for the next World Cup season later this year.

 

"She knows the hard work it takes to get to the top and still has significant goals to achieve in what has been an incredible career.

 

"While Lindsey won’t be in Sochi, we have a strong team that is well prepared to challenge.

 

"The women’s speed team is experienced with five athletes who have achieved World Cup podiums and a seasoned veteran in Julia Mancuso who has won three Olympic medals in her career."

 

In a high-risk sport that leaves little margin between triumph and tragedy, Vonn has endured several injury nightmares in what has been a spectacular career.

 

She bounced back from a frightful crash in downhill training at the 2006 Olympics that left her with a badly bruised back, competing just days later.

 

A year later, a badly twisted right knee in slalom training at the Are world championships saw her season brought to a premature end.

 

Vonn also broke a finger in a crash at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, an event she went into carrying a shin injury.

 

Each time the American battled back, picking up multiple medals and four overall World Cup titles along the way.

 

It remains to be seen if, at 29, she will be able to pick up the pieces and once again be competitive at the highest level.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 7 Tuesday January 2014 The Roman)

 

The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu Ryukyu Palace Official Bulletin : Let us eat ApplePie !

The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu Ryukyu Palace Official Bulletin :

 

Let us eat ApplePie !

 

We are too busy, but we do not forget 18 Wednesday December 2013 The Roman is the birthday of Your Imperial Highness The Queen Miki Chichibu of The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu.

 

We will have holiday on 23 Monday December 2013 The Roman for the birthday for Your Imperial Highness The Queen Miki Chichibu of The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu.

 

Let us eat ApplePie !

 

23 Monday December 2013 The Roman is National Holiday for The Birthday of His Majesty The King Akihito.

 

We are building Agence France-Presse Yokohama.

 

We will publish news paper with Agence France-Presse.

 

We will go to Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games as the press.

 

Your Imperial Highness The Queen Miki Chichibu of The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu invited us to Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, but passport trouble to us happened, we could not go to Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

 

This passport trouble for the press is the famous, this happened to Mr. Robert Capa too.

 

We don’t know what happen in the future.

 

We may go to Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games as the press, perhaps.

 

 

We are living in Myth.

 

Every things are straightly Myth.

 

 

We are living in The Roman Empire.

 

 

Happy birthday !

 

 

The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu Palace

 

Biathlon Sochi Olympic athletes, five athletes

Biathlon Sochi Olympic athletes, five athletes

 

Five players, Isa et al Olympic team, Biathlon Federation

 

五輪代表に井佐ら５人　バイアスロン連盟

 

日本バイアスロン連盟は１２月１４日、ソチ冬季五輪代表として男子の井佐英徳と女子の鈴木芙由子、小林美貴、中島由貴、鈴木李奈（いずれも自衛隊）の５選手を発表した。

 

３７歳の井佐は２００２年ソルトレークシティー五輪から４大会連続の出場。

 

女子は前回バンクーバー五輪に出た鈴木芙を除いて初出場となる。

 

代表は１８日に札幌市内で記者会見する。

 

ソチ五輪の出場枠は２０１２、２０１３年の世界選手権２大会の成績を基にした国・地域別ランキングで決まり、日本は男子１枠、女子４枠を獲得。

 

サマー日本選手権の結果で代表候補を絞り込み、今季ワールドカップ（W杯）などの成績で選考した。

 

（神奈川新聞、２０１３年１２月１５日）

 

 

Biathlon Sochi Olympic athletes, five athletes

 

Five players, Isa et al Olympic team, Biathlon Federation

 

14 December 2013, Japan Biathlon Federation announced the five players, Hidenori Isa, Fuyuko Suzuki, Miki Kobayashi, Yuki Nakajima, Rina Suzuki (All Self Defence military) for women and men Sochi Winter Olympic team.

 

Isa, 37-year-old competed in four consecutive tournaments from 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

 

Ladies will be the first appearance with the exception of Fuyuko Suzuki for the previous Vancouver Olympics player.

 

Players will hold a press conference in Sapporo city on the 18 December 2013.

 

Player total of Sochi Olympics is determined by country and region rankings that are based on the performance of world championship tournament of 2012 and 2013, Japan win men 1 player total, win ladies 4 players total.

 

To browse the representative candidate as a result of Japan Summer Championship, and shortlisted in the results, such as the World Cup in this season.

 

(Kanagawa Shimbun, 15 Sunday December 2013 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 15 Sunday December 2013 The Roman)

 

 

 

Speed skate short track Sochi athletes, Men Takamidou, Lady Ito

Speed skate short track Sochi athletes, Men Takamidou, Lady Ito

 

Takamido men representative player certainty, lady Ito preceding criteria, short track Olympic qualifying trial

 

高御堂が代表確実、女子伊藤、先行基準満たす　スケート　ショート五輪代表選考会

 

スピードスケート・ショートトラックのソチ冬期五輪代表選考会第２日は１２月１４日、大阪プールアイススケート場で行なわれ、男子の高御堂雄三、女子の伊藤亜由子（ともにトヨタ自動車）が日本スケート連盟の選考基準を満たし、ともに２大会連続の五輪代表入りを確実とした。

 

高御堂は１０００メートルを１分２８秒０５４で、１５００メートルを２分２０秒３７６で制し、１５００メートルで９月の全日本距離別選手権と合わせて４戦３勝とするなど基準に達した。

 

伊藤は１０００メートルで４位、１５００メートルで２位に入り、ポイント合計順位で基準をクリアした。

 

女子で代表確実な酒井裕唯（日本再生推進機構）は１０００メートルを１分３５秒０７３で、１５００メートルを２分２９秒５４２で勝ち、２日続けて２種目制覇。

 

男子で右脚骨折から復帰した坂爪亮介（タカショー）は２種目とも決勝には進めなかった。

 

選考会は３日間で５００メートル、１０００メートル、１５００メートルをそれぞれ２度滑り、全日本距離別と合わせた成績で女子５人、男子３人の代表を決める。

 

（神奈川新聞、２０１３年１２月１５日）

 

 

Speed skate short track Sochi athletes, Men Takamidou, Lady Ito

 

Takamido men representative player certainty, lady Ito preceding criteria, short track Olympic qualifying trial

 

14 December 2013, the second day Sochi Winter Olympic Games speed skate short track qualifying trial the selection criteria of the Japan Skating Federation held in Osaka Pool Ice Skating, Yuzo Takamido (Men, Toyota Motor), Ayuko Ito (Lady, Toyota Motor), were set to ensure the Olympic team holding 2 consecutive tournaments together.

 

Takamido, 1 minute 28 seconds 054 in 1000 meters, 2 minutes 20 seconds 376 in 1500 meters, win, and the three wins for four races in the 1500 meters in the All Japan distance separated Championships in September.

 

Ito, fourth in the 1000 meters, to enter the 2nd in the 1500 meters, clears the criteria in ranking point total.

 

Yui Sakai (Japan Promote Regeneration Agency), 1 minute 35 seconds 073 in 1000 meters, win 2 minutes 29 seconds 542 in 1500 meters, representative reliably lady for win two races for two days.

 

Ryosuke Sakatsume (Takasyo), 2 races both could not advance to the finals in men, who is recovering from a right leg fracture.

 

Trials are, 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters in three days, trial to determine the representative 5 ladies, 3 mens in grades combined with the All Japan distance separated races.

 

(Kanagawa Shimbun, 15 Sunday December 2013 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 15 Sunday December 2013 The Roman)

 

 

News: Olympic fire

News: Olympic fire

 

[caption id="attachment_10546" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo SOCHI 2014 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE/AFP)[/caption]

 

Weiter unterwegs

 

Weiter unterwegs: Das Olympische Feuer wird im Fernen Osten Russlands weitergereicht.

 

Next on the go

 

Next on the go: The Olympic fire is passed on in the Far East of Russia.

 

(SOCHI 2014 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE/AFP)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 4 Wednesday December 2013 The Roman)

(Edited and Translated: R.S.F. tohiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 5 Thursday December 2013 The Roman)