Newly elected IOC chief Thomas Bach said Thursday Russia was ready to provide "excellent conditions" for athletes at the Winter Olympics in February.
The Bolshoi Ice Dome arena, an ice hockey venue, in the Olympic Park in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, September 25, 2013
"We are very pleased with preparations," Bach told a news conference in Tokyo where he was visiting for the first time since the Japanese capital won the right in September to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
"The athletes will have excellent conditions in Sochi," said the German, who was elected as International Olympic Committee president on September 10 and visited the Black Sea resort in late October where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Bach cited the quality of the Olympic village and its closeness to competition venues.
"Having stayed in quite a number of Olympic villages, I can say I was really, really impressed," he said.
Bach added that Sochi's sports facilities were not only architectural "landmarks" but also "very functional for the needs of the athletes and the international federations".
He acknowledged it must be "difficult" for Russia to host the football World Cup in 2018, just four years after staging the winter games.
But he added Moscow was "very much committed to the delivery of these big events", using them as a "catalyst" for development.
"These events are accelerating the progress and the improvement with regard to infrastructure and they will also leave a great legacy to the Russian people," he said.
Sochi, Russia's biggest seaside resort which is popular with domestic tourists, has seen more than $50 billion (36 billion euros) invested over six years in infrastructure, hotels and sports venues.