Vladimir Vagenleitner, who is responsible for cycling development in the Krasnodar region where Sochi is located, has now admitted that the redevelopment was now unlikely to proceed as planned. 

"There is a Government decree to reconstruct the Iceberg [into a velodrome] and our Federation's specialists are working on it," he said.

"A project will obviously be carried out, but will the reconstruction take place?

"We can suppose with a great deal of certainty that the Iceberg ice arena will remain an ice arena. 

"But we will still push for the creation of infrastructure to develop cycling in this region."

The Skating Palace was one of the most atmospheric venues during the Games - when it hosted figure skating ©Getty Images



A legacy for summer as well as winter sports is one aspect of the appeal of Sochi 2014 and it was something highlighted several times during the Games by the Organising Committee.

But, with doubt also being cast over the future of several other venues, there is a danger of these legacy pledges not being fulfilled as promised. 

Under existing plans, the 7,000-capacity Shaiba ice hockey arena and the hockey training hall are to be redeveloped into a children's sport facility - although this is yet to receive final confirmation, while the Ice Cube Curling Center is now envisaged as a training facility after earlier plans  to move the venue to Moscow were dropped. 

However, the Fisht Olympic Stadium is still set to be a venue for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while the main ice hockey arena, the Bolshoy Ice Dome, looks likely to host a Kontinental Hockey League professional team called Sochi Dolphins.

The Adler Arena, which hosted speed skating during the Games, is set to be an exhibition centre,  while the Alpine venues in the mountains will revert to being ski resorts or training centres for Russia's national teams in various sports.  

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