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Anatoly Maltsev / EPA
Volunteers prepare a ski jumping hill in Sochi, Russia, on Friday.
Updated at 8:24 a.m. ET: SOCHI, Russia -- Representing Russia as a volunteer at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is a matter of national pride for 19-year-old Tatiana Kulagina.
"I want to show foreigners that we are a friendly country and that we're not just drinking vodka!" she said.
Kulagina is one of Russia's chosen, an army of 25,000 volunteers, ready and willing to work long hours without pay. With more than 160,000 applications to date, the competition to become a volunteer is rather Olympian.
The world's attention will turn to the likes of Kulagina and this Black Sea resort when it hosts the Olympic Opening Ceremony one year from Thursday.
With at least $50 billion in public and private cash being spent on the Games, Sochi is expected to surpass Beijing 2008 as the most expensive Olympics in history. That figure is five times the original estimate.
As Russia prepares to welcome guests from around the world for the Winter Olympics next year, NBC's Ben Fogle takes an insider's look at the progress of Sochi's Olympic Park and gets the scoop on a few athletes to look out for next year.
The deluge of applicants is surprising in a country which has no history of volunteering. At the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games there were no volunteers -- people were conscripted into their roles by the Communist regime.
The Russian word for volunteer -- "dobrovolets" -- is so tainted by association with Communist-era mandatory labor that the fashionable word to use now is "voluntyor," which has been borrowed from English.
"Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was a totalitarian society and volunteer work was ordered and organized by authorities," political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov said. The collapse of Soviet Union brought tremendous change but also resulted in society becoming more individualistic with an "emphasis on survival," he added.
The volunteer spirit may be new to Russia, but it has been embraced with enthusiasm.
Vareriya Zvezdova, 19, believes her Olympic experience will change her life.
"I just realized this will be one of the greatest things in my life," she said. "I will be a little part of this great action, but I'll represent my country and that's why I think it's great."
Olympic organizers wanted to ensure that the volunteers represented not only the diverse population of this vast nation, but also that they were the best and the brightest. Would-be volunteers were tested on their their ability to cope with pressure and their language skills.
Intensive training has already begun for successful applicants, and including one-on-one Skype sessions learning English, studying local geography and guidance on being friendly.
Sochi has traditionally attracted Russian's most influential figures. It flourished as a resort in Imperial Russia as aristocrats traveled for its subtropical climate.
In the wake of the 1917 revolution, Sochi was transformed into a state-sponsored worker's paradise, with large spas and sanatoriums built for workers. It later became a favorite holiday destination for Joseph Stalin and his cronies. The landscape of the city bears traces of its history with the occasional neo-classical and Stalinist buildings.
After being neglected and spurned for more fashionable destinations in recent years, Sochi is experiencing a renaissance. Russia's elite, including President Vladimir Putin and wealthy oligarchs, are once again flocking to the city.
Join NBC News' Dmitry Solovyov and Alexei Gordienko as they make the 1,000-mile journey from Moscow to 2014 Olympic host Sochi.
Sochi's proximity to the Caucacus mountains means that winter sports were always possible, but until recently there were few facilities. Still, a summer resort featuring palm tree-lined streets was undoubtedly a unique choice for the Winter Games.
With the Opening Ceremony exactly a year away, temperatures this week have reach a balmy 60 degrees F in Sochi. Temperatures average about 40 degrees Fahrenheit during February.
The Associated Press noted that weather is among the concerns facing Sochi:
"The snowfall this winter has been abundant, but the Russians have made contingency plans in light of the warm weather and rain that disrupted some of the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
The Rosa Khutor resort, which will host the Alpine skiing and other events, has one of the biggest snow-making systems in Europe, according to its managing director, Alexander Belokobylsky. The resort has two water reservoirs and 400 snow generators installed along the slopes. Rosa Khutor also stores snow through the summer, keeping it packed and under a tight insulated cover, and plans to store 150,000 cubic meters (195,000 cubic yards) of snow for the games."
Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images
The Winter Olympics arrive in Sochi on Feb. 7, 2014. A look at how the Russian city is shaping up for its moment in the spotlight.
Related:
'Exploitative, abusive': Activists slam conditions for workers at Olympic site
Leave a Comment:
"The Russian word for volunteer -- "dobrovolets" -- is so tainted by association with Communist-era mandatory labor that the fashionable word to use now is "voluntyor," which has been borrowed from English." - this is crap. Must do research first what is "tainted" and what is "fashionable".
Fashionable - Sexy Russian female tennis player.
Tainted - old gulag.
That kind of volunteer work would look great on a resume. Shows that you have dedication, pride, and work ethic. It's hard to find good positive people willing to offer up a little elbow grease for their country.
We had the same problem with "commie" so we changed it to "socialist" then "liberal" then "progressive". Still the same thing though. ;)
In Soviet Russia, mountain skis YOU!
More like in Putin-era Russia.
During Stalin's time, there were plenty of "volunteers"!
Usually, the amount spent does not include expenditures equivalence for "voluntyor". Russian government should get with the program instead of being stuck in communist era mindset with new propaganda for volunteerism. Like include a seprate value for "voluntyor" savings, so there can be opportunity for future government loans for small businesses etc.. All hail the fatherland. :)
Volunteering is not mandatory, and you may or may not choose to do it. Likewise, you may or may not receive a late-night visit by government representatives who will haul you off into a dark jail cell.
Contrary to popular belief, that doesn't happen anymore.
Contrary to recent posts, this does still happen. You think the opposition from last year went quietly away?
Do you know that for a fact? Have you EVER been there or lived there?
I'd agree. The government no longer has the need to come after you personally when they can simply send a drone to bomb you.
starbuck- yes. i live here. Next?
Awe isn't that sweet ......The Russians are setting an example for all you American "capitalist pigs". Everyone should work for free .....for the greater good of "the republic". Nice propaganda NBC. I suppose "evil Americans" never volunteer for anything....
Leave it to you to turn a story about something good in Russia to a story about something bad in the USA.
Yep....Leave it to you to call the truth "bad"
Nothing do with anything
созаключенный
That is a good start. With a minimum of 25,000 volunteers there should be no way the Sochi 2014 Olympics can lose more than $25 billion.
I need a volunteer too. Maybe a couple volunteers actually.
Yeah but they're still drinking vodka, LOL.
Maybe NBC can report on other forms of volunteering going on... or do they have to temper reports due to their own Olympic involvement?
w w w .hrw.org/ news/2013/02/06/russia-migrant-olympic-workers-cheated-exploited
Well, NBC won't let me link to the story...but look at HRW.org's website for the latest article on immigrant work in Sochi
- -
MSNBC does have the story about the immigrant work and abuse that was discovered. I read this article first then stumbled down and saw the other. It is an odd combo to see prideful volunteers followed by abused and unpaid immigrant work.
Not a new concept. I think it is good for the young people to think more than just about themselves- somehow brings the Peace Corps of JFK and his motto : " think not what your country can do for you ,but what you can do for your country '. That wonderful motto just got lost in Washington DC , among our leadership and that is why we are broke. At least in Russia they seem to be doing the right thing and at the same time give employment to their young people.
Joe- thank you for adding some intelligence to the negativity in many of the above posts. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1961, in the very first group and met John F Kennedy in the White House. I went on to serve almost five years with the Peace Corps as a volunteer and on Staff. I have Volunteered for Sochi and await some word from them. My experience is varied as I served as a Security worker at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
I have always come away from "volunteer" experience so much richer for what little I was giving. I understand and speak Russian, Spanish, German and , of course, English. I hope to hear from Sochi soon.
I hope the old USSR is dead and that there is truly a new beginning there. I believe in their future due to their younger generation which never lived under the old style way of doing things. I wish them good luck.
A big shout out to Rio and Russia for saving the USA billions in losses from hosting the Olympics.
Volunteerism is not new in USA; the volunteerism can be in many forms, such as school, e.g., a classroom mother, Sunday School, church choir, small group teacher, school sport event, local county precinct election, political campaign, political party convention, or charity organization.
It is glad to hear that Russians are embracing the volunteerism. Relax, enjoy, and will learn a lot about celebrating life.
ASIA FOR ASIANS, AFRICA FOR AFRICANS, WHITE COUNTRIES FOR EVERYBODY!
Everybody says there is this RACE problem. Everybody says this RACE problem will be solved when the third world pours into EVERY White country and ONLY into White countries.
The Netherlands and Belgium are just as crowded as Japan or Taiwan, but nobody says Japan or Taiwan will solve this RACE problem by bringing in millions of third worlders and quote assimilating unquote with them.
Everybody says the final solution to this RACE problem is for EVERY White country and ONLY White countries to "assimilate," i.e., intermarry, with all those non-Whites.
What if I said there was this RACE problem and this RACE problem would be solved only if hundreds of millions of non-Blacks were brought into EVERY Black country and ONLY into Black countries?
How long would it take anyone to realize I'm not talking about a RACE problem. I am talking about the final solution to the BLACK problem?
And how long would it take any sane Black man to notice this and what kind of psycho Black man wouldn't object to this?
But if I tell that obvious truth about the ongoing program of genocide against my race, the White race, Liberals and respectable conservatives agree that I am a naziwhowantstokillsixmillionjews.
They say they are anti-racist. What they are is anti-White.
Anti-racist is a code word for anti-White.
'Volunteering' is the only way the Olympics will happen in Russia, since Vlad Putin and his good old boy network certainly do not plan to pay anyone to get things up and running. I recommend the IOC just pick a country that can host the Olympics all the time, build the venues, keep them maintained and just go there every four years to hold the games. It should be more about the games and the athletes, anyway, than the new buildings, the transportation issues, the food and lodging issues and the celebrity afforded the hosting country. Just cut to the chase and make it more about the games, themselves.