On 25 February, the MSA class visited the exhibition “The History of the Olympic Winter Games as Reflected in Artifacts: Highlights from the Vladimir Potanin Collection”, hosted by the cultural and ethnographic centre ‘My Russia’ located at Rosa Khutor resort. The students had an opportunity to get a feel of the history of the Winter Olympics, starting from the inaugural 1924 Games. They were able to take in the spirit of Olympic ideals, fair play, friendship and respect, that each of the items of the unique collection represents.

From the mountain cluster, the MSA class moved to the Olympic Park to visit Fisht, the main stadium of the Sochi 2014 Games, where the Olympic cauldron was lit. The students had a tour of the stadium, learning about its architectural features and internal design. Apart from the 2014 Games, Fisht provided a venue for the FIFA 2018 World Cup. Visits to such sites is an integral part of the MSA curriculum, as they provide students with the opportunity to learn about best practices in staging major international competitions.

A tour of the stadium was conducted by Ekaterina Chernukhova, Deputy Head of the Department of Sports Infrastructure at Fisht, as well as a RIOU graduate (MSA 2014/15).

Monaco Emilio, MSA student, commented: 'The Olympic exhibition of Vladimir Potanin was exciting. My colleagues and I discovered curiosity and could observe torches and medals from the past Olympics and learnt more about the legacy from Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The Fisht Stadium was a revelation. We could visit the new museum and learn more about the story of the stadium and the events which took place there. And finally learned about the stadium operations and could walk by the field'.