Russia unveils new Sochi 2014 Olympic logo, based on Internet domain name

Russia unveils new Sochi 2014 Olympic logo

MOSCOW — Russia unveiled the new logo for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, a design based on the organizing committee’s Internet domain name.

The lower-case logo is set in a rounded blue typeface and contains no images other than the five Olympic rings, and represents the first time an Internet domain has been part of an Olympic host city’s emblem.

The word “sochi.ru” appears above the number “2014″ in an apparent reflection, symbolizing the southern city’s water-based location on the Black Sea.

“It’s very appealing. It’s very creative, innovative,” International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said at Tuesday’s unveiling. “I think it will appeal especially to the young population.”

The logo replaces the previous design, a mountain under a snowflake reminiscent of the Soviet star.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, the CEO of the Sochi organizing committee, refused to disclose the cost, saying only it was less than $650,000 spent on London’s design for the 2012 Summer Games.

Interbrand produced the logo, which was subsequently approved in a series of national and international surveys, Chernyshenko said.

Chernyshenko said the new logo would help break Western stereotypes of a Russia stuck in the past, instead promoting the country as a dynamic and modern nation capable of reaching out to new audiences in a digital age.

“In a lot of ways Russia, for the rest of the world, is still a mystery,” Chernyshenko said.

Another unveiling ceremony took place Monday on Red Square despite the country being in mourning over the 26 killed in Friday’s train derailment. Officials say it was a terror attack, and dozens have remained hospitalized.

IOC officials said they had received assurances from Russia that the 2014 Games near the North Caucasus region, afflicted by continuing violence, would not be threatened by terrorism.

Most media were banned at the last minute from Monday’s Red Square party and a television broadcast was postponed. It was unclear when authorities were planning to televise the ceremony.

Internet blogs were awash with photographs from the elaborate celebration, which appeared to feature top government officials, pop stars, fireworks and a show on a specially built ice rink.