By Mike Rowbottom at Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi

kevan gosper 06-11-1November 6 - The Sochi 2014 Games promise to do for Russia what Beijing 2008 did for China, the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) former vice-president Kevan Gosper said here today as he opened the World Press Briefing in the luxury hotel complex that lies amid the inland mountains which will host the alpine events in 15 months' time.

"What Russia is doing in Sochi to showcase itself to the world is very much what China did when it took on the Beijing Olympics," Gosper (pictured top) told assembled media in his role as chief of the IOC Press Commission.

"Beijing was presenting to the world the Chinese can-do.

"Russia, as Russia, is now making a new presentation of itself to the world, following the long history of the Tsarist and Soviet times.

"You can see at first hand the can-do attitude which is now known as the new Russia, 23 years after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

"The 2014 Games will mark the new Russia's 25th anniversary."

World Press Briefing Sochi November 6 2012More than 300 media from across the world are attending the Sochi 2014 World Press Briefing

Gosper described Sochi as "one of the most exciting places in the world in terms of what's happening", adding: "The enormity of what you will see in the establishment of the ice facilities on the foreshore of the Black Sea, and what is happening  in these magnificent Caucasus mountains will really astonish you.

"I've never seen an event or an effort like this.

"The work on the road and rail networks, and the venues, has unfolded like a huge new carpet.

"I was here 12 months ago, and now I am back I can't believe the change.

"Dmitry [Chernyshenko], the President of the Sochi organising committee, says he comes back every two months and even he can't believe the rate of change."

Gosper paid tribute to the commitment shown to the Sochi bid by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

vladimir putin 06-11-12Kevan Gosper paid tribute to Vladimir Putin saying the Sochi 2014 Games had been his dream

"This has been a Putin dream," he said.

"Sochi has bid twice before for the Winter Games, but they left no stone unturned before going to Guatemala and earning the 2014 Games ahead of Pyeongchang.

"President Putin knows this part of the world, he has a house here, and he has offered the Games the support at the highest level that is so vital.

"Sochi 2014 will definitely be one of the great Games."

Gosper's confidence was mirrored by the Mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov.

"Sochi is a unique city, and the winter Games of 2014 will be the most unforgettable winter Games in history," Pakhomov said.

"But the key achievement for us will be that Sochi showcases itself all around the world not just as the host of the 2014 Games, but also as a resort where people can visit all year round."

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