Russian Audit Chamber board member Vladimir Katrenko said there is an “urgent” need to improve the legacy plans for the Winter Olympic venues in Sochi and halt an exodus of skilled staff, according to R-SPORT. Sochi's Olympic Park will host F1 racing starting in October, while "plans are afoot to create football and hockey teams to occupy some venues." However, "the future of other facilities is unclear amid disputes between different government factions over what to do with them." That includes three arenas that were designed to be dismantled and moved to other cities after the Games, although "that now appears unlikely." Katrenko said, “The Olympic Games facilities in Sochi should be used effectively. Currently an outflow of specialists from these facilities is taking place. The Sports Ministry should take urgent measures” (R-SPORT, 4/23). R-SPORT also reported Russia's Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin "has been re-elected as the president of the country's Paralympic Committee after its most successful Winter Games in history." Lukin has presided over the Paralympic Committee since '96. The re-election will take Lukin through the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympics (R-SPORT, 4/23).
