Sochi Olympics generated $53 million profit – IOC

The 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia's Sochi generated an operating profit of about 3.25 billion rubles ($53 million), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday.

The IOC said that it would give its 20-per-cent share of the profits – R650m – back to the Russian Olympic Committee “for use in the development of sport, the Olympic Channel and an Olympic Museum in Russia.”

In total, the IOC contributed $833m to support the Sochi Games, an increase of $83m over previous estimates. The IOC will contribute $1.5bn to support the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio.

“The executive board agreed that there remains a misconception around the cost of hosting the Olympic Games and Olympic winter Games, and the difference between the operational budget and the infrastructure budget,” the IOC said. “All recent editions of the Games have either made an operational profit or broken even. The Olympic Games are privately funded, with a large contribution from the IOC.”

The Sochi Olympic Games were held February 7-23, 2014 and were the first Winter Olympics held in Russia. Russian athletes topped the medal list, winning 13 gold medals and 33 medals in total.


Image credit: IOC/Ian Jones