The Sochi 2014 "smoking-free Games" strategy is supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and it is claimed that it will protect 155,000 athletes, delegates and volunteers from second hand smoke on a daily basis during the Games.

The commitment to make the Games smoke free is a part of the wider strategy Sochi has enacted for protecting the environment.

Significant efforts have been made by Sochi 2014 with their green agenda, which looks to improve the environment and natural beauty of the Black Sea resort and the surrounding region.

Sochi 2014 are also promoting healthier lifestyles through emphasising the importance of physical exercise and healthy eating.

Russia has 44 million smokers, over a third of the population, with almost half a million people in the country dying every year as a result of smoking related illnesses.

Tobacco use is the third leading cause of premature death in the country, with a quarter of all 13 to 15-year-olds addicted to the habit.

A bill is also currently being considered in Russia, which if it became law, would ban smoking in public places within the next few years – and follow similar moves which have taken place in China, Britain and Spain among other countries in recent times.

Luigi Migliorini, head of the WHO office in Russia, installed the sign, after a visit to the Olympic Park, where venues are currently being constructed for 2014.

A seminar on "managing tobacco denial and the creation of smoke free medical institutions" was conducted during his visit, to explore the best way to fight smoking.

Smoking is now officially forbidden across all Olympic and Paralympic venues, though allocated smoking areas will be available.

Since the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988 the Games have been smoke free, and during Beijing 2008 restaurants and hotels connected to the Olympics banned smoking.

It is the 12th Olympic Games which will be smoke free, and tobacco will not even be sold in Olympic venues.

The City of Sochi has also stepped up its own anti-smoking campaign, "prevention of tobacco smoking in the city of Sochi", and has drawn up a charter, "Sochi without tobacco", which has been signed by more than 80,000 people.

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