Canada's Sochi Olympic Village experience: small rooms, with a view

Guess who has some of the best accommodations in Sochi? Team Canada. And guess why? Because four years ago at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Canada won 14 gold medals, more than any other country.

“We’re the Olympic winners, so that helped us a lot dealing with the Russians in terms of where we got to live,” said Steve Podborski, Canada’s chef de mission in Sochi. “People love winners. That’s what we are.”

Canadian athletes don’t have cushier digs than anyone else. They sleep in the same spartan rooms that others do – simple furniture, single beds, with souvenir Olympic blankets. Even the men’s hockey players will when they arrive next week.

Nope. No special treatment for millionaire superstars used to five-star hotels.

“One of the things that we discovered in our exit interviews from the previous Games – and particularly out of Vancouver – is that the athletes want to be part of a team,” Podborski said. “They want to really feel like they’re a part of just not their team, but our team all together, and that includes the hockey players.”

But the Canadians’ golden status in Vancouver got them location, location, location in Sochi. There are three Olympic villages for these Games – one on the coast, two in the mountains.

On the coast, the Canadians have three buildings right on the Black Sea, on the far end closest to the venues. (OK, the hockey players will live in the building closest to the water.) The views are spectacular in every direction, and the convenience is incredible. Walk outside, turn right, pass through security and the Bolshoy Ice Dome is straight ahead.

The Canadians have their own concierge, their own lounge, their own wellness center, their own medical center – even their own mini-gym, a converted guest room with some weights, something they didn’t have in Vancouver.

The place has a Mediterranean feel, with palm trees, green grass and swimming pools (that aren’t filled with water in the winter, unfortunately).

In the mountains?

"It’s profoundly different up there,” Podborski said. “It’s sort of a ski chalet thing.”

It’s good to be Canadian there, too. In one spot, Team Canada is close to the main dining hall and far from the shopping area. Walk up a hill, pass through security, climb a ladder and the top of the slope is right there.

“You’ve got it all, and it’s really fun,” Podborski said. “And I guess the best part really is that when you walk in here, you can put a bit of a swagger going on, because we are a good team.”

 See more of Nick Cotsonika's pictures from Sochi on Flickr here.