Speaking to insidethegames following a visit to the Black Sea resort, the Scot - a former curler herself - explained how she believes Sochi will feature some of the best facilities in the history of the Games and that everything seems to be on track thanks to the Russian organising committee's efforts.

"Our partners at Sochi 2014 have really worked hard to make the Olympic and Paralympic venues the best ever and they've been working around the clock to make sure the Ice Cube Curling Centre is a first class facility and hopefully they've achieved this," Caithness said.

"We really are very excited about the Games in Russia and it gives us a terrific opportunity to develop the sport in the country.

"The coastal cluster is so special.

"When I was out last week it was still a bit of a building site and there is a lot going on but the sport's venues are ready.

"I think the coastal cluster is going to be really very special."


The coastal cluster, which has been built from scratch specifically for Sochi 2014, is currently gearing up to host the World Junior Curling Championships - the sport's Olympic test event for next year's Games, as they get underway at the Ice Cube Curling Centre tomorrow.

The competition gathers ten junior women's and ten men's teams to battle it out for the respective world titles.

Women representing Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and hosts Russia will compete at the tournament, while curlers from Canada, China, Czech Republic, Italy, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and the US will play in the men's events.

With the sport's Paralympic test event – the World Wheelchair Curling Championships – having already taken place at the Ice Cube Curling Centre, Caithness is confident ahead of this week's event and explained how it will give the sport a final chance to fine-tune its preparations for Sochi 2014.


"The event [World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2013] went well and most importantly, the athletes were happy," she told insidethegames.

"We are just doing the final tests [the World Junior Curling Championships] but we are ready and this is the big push.

"We are well on schedule for Sochi 2014."

Scotland's women and Canada's men will be looking to defend their world titles at the event, which runs through to March 10.

Fans of the sport can follow live coverage of the World Junior Curling Championships on the WCF YouTube channel, while daily reports, image galleries and other information can be found here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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February 2013: Exclusive - Curling President confident ahead of World Wheelchair Championship in Sochi