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The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi are on the horizon, and on Thursday the medal designs were made public. They represent various regions in Russia, depicting mountains and beaches. Here is the first look at what the world's best athletes will be competing for come February:
And here we go! #Sochi2014 Olympic Gold Medal! RT! twitter.com/Sochi2014/stat…
— Sochi 2014 (@Sochi2014) May 30, 2013
On #Sochi2014 medals sun's rays reflect through the snowy mountain tops onto the beaches of the Black Sea coast twitter.com/Sochi2014/stat…
— Sochi 2014 (@Sochi2014) May 30, 2013
More than six pounds of gold were needed for the Olympic gold medals, and 1,300 medals have been made ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics, which is a record total.
The Winter Games are scheduled to get underway on Feb. 7, and they'll feature a dozen new competitions, including a figure skating team event and a luge relay. Russia is putting a strong emphasis on its performance in the Olympics, as it is not only the host nation but also coming off a historically poor showing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.