The 9,000 capacity venue, which will become a national training centre after the Games, is situated at the Alpika Service Mountain Ski Resort.

Russian and foreign sliders took to the course for the first time last week to test it, with Ferriani saying the track was "ready for international certification".

Construction on the site of the 1,814 metre course began in 2010, and the safety of the track has been vigorously tested ahead of next February's FIBT World Cup, which will be the first test event on the course.

Sections have been designed to control speed with the events of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in mind, when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was involved in a fatal crash.

"After the tragic event in Vancouver, the decision was taken that not just the strongest, but those outside the top 10, should be invited in order to see how they feel," Valery Silakov, the coach of Russia's luge team told RIA Novosti.

"I like the track a lot...I think it's unlikely that there will be a lot of falls."

"The project, which was agreed by the international federation of athletes, has special protective barriers that will prevent crashes from the road," said the vice-president of Russian state corporation Olympstroy, Viktor Pryadein.

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