The three-day visit, which concludes today, is the Commission's eighth trip to Sochi and saw Killy and his colleagues inspect all aspects of the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, with test events for the Games set to get underway in the coming months.

The Commission visited a number Games venues, including the sliding centre, ski jump facility, cross country/biathlon area and the coastal cluster and expressed its delight that most of the venues are either nearing completion or are already in use.

"The venues have come a long way in a relatively short period since our last visit here, and we congratulate Deputy Prime Minister Kozak and Olympstroy for their work," said Killy, the 69-year-old former alpine ski racer who won three gold medals at the Grenoble 1968 Winter Olympics.

"We have also been impressed with the advances made in hotel construction and, in particular, transport.

"It all bodes well for a successful season of test events ahead, as well as for a great legacy left behind for the local population."

Jean-Claude Killy (L) is highly impressed with preparations for the Winter Games in the Russian city

Sochi 2014 President and chief executive Dmitry Chernyshenko (pictured above, right) welcomed Killy's comments as his Organising Committee prepares for the vital test event phase of the process.

"We are currently focused on delivering the most robust test event schedule in the history of the Winter Games, with 47 different test events this season alone to check the venues and surrounding infrastructure to ensure we're 100 per cent prepared," he said.

"We are already making great steps, having this month held the Federation Cup figure skating tournament at the Iceberg Skating Palace.

"Located in the Sochi Olympic Park, the event was the first test in the coastal cluster, and the venue attracted high levels of praise from the athletes competing."

The Commission also congratulated Sochi 2014 on its plans for the Olympic Torch Relay, which were announced earlier this month and see the Torch pass within an hour of 90 per cent of the Russian population during its record 65,000-kilometre journey

This latest inspection was the IOC Coordination Commission’s eighth visit to Sochi

In addition, Sochi 2014 outlined the activities of the Cultural Olympiad and educational programme, as well as detailing its progress on volunteers.

So far this year, Sochi 2014 has held 700 cultural events in 130 locations around Russia, with some 900,000 people attending.

The figures presented during Sochi's volunteer update were no less impressive as 26 volunteer "hubs" located around the country have received almost 120,000 applications so far, including around 4,000 from abroad.

On the educational front, some 600 teachers, librarians, partner representatives and other volunteers have already taken part in the "Train the Teacher" Olympic educational programme designed to address the challenge of bringing the Sochi 2014 Games to the entire country.

Over 1,800 educational events have been held this year alone, and have reached around 10 million people.

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