Distinguished visitors at the first test runs of the homologation process Sochi (RWH) Distinguished visitors at the first test runs at the Olympic ice track for 2014: In Sochi (RUS), the newly elected Russian president, Vladimir Putin, his predecessor in office and currently still reigning president, Dmitri Medvedev, as well as the former Italian president, Silvio Berlusconi, watched the runs of international bobsleigh, skeleton and luge athletes in the new ice track. The politicians were accompanied by Ivo Ferriani (ITA), President of the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation FIBT (Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing), Josef Fendt (GER), President of the International Luge Federation FIL (Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course), Leonid Gart, President of the Russian Luge Federation, and the President of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation Gregory Bedzhamov. Two years prior to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi (RUS), the test runs started the homologation process through the two international federations, FIBT and FIL. The Russian National Sliding Centre is located in Rzhanaya Polyana, in the Western Caucasus. 60 km northeast of Sochi, the artificially refrigerated track will host the bobsleigh, skeleton, and luge competitions for the 2014 Winter Olympics.