Sochi 2014: 5 Facts To Get Ready To Watch 2014 Olympics This Winter

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games are just a few weeks away. The games begin Feb. 7, 2014 and run through to Feb. 23. The Olympic Opening Ceremony will take place on Feb. 7 commencing at 8:14 p.m., or 20:14. While there are still concerns over security following a string of terrorist attacks in recent months and controversy surrounding Russia's controversial anti-gay propaganda laws, its sure to be an exciting two weeks! Here are 5 Facts To Get Ready To Watch 2014 Olympics This Winter.

1. The Most Expensive Games Ever: As of October 2013, the estimated cost of the 2014 Winter Olympics had topped US$51 billion. This makes Sochi not only four times as expensive as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver (which came in at $12 billion) but in fact makes these Olympics the most expensive games ever, exceeding even the estimated $44 billion cost of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The massive increase in cost has been attributed to work quality and conditions.

2. Twelve New Events: There are a number of new events at this year's games, including Figure Skating Team event, Women's Ski Jumping, Ski Halfpipe and Biathlon Mixed relay - there will be twelve new events in all, making this the biggest Olympics to date.

3. There Are 3 Mascots: Following a televised election process on "Talismaniya Sochi 2014." The top-three characters with the maximum number of votes were the Polar Bear, the European Hare and the Amur Leopard.

4. Warmest Games Ever: With an average February temperature of 8.3 °C (42.8 °F) and a humid subtropical climate, Sochi will be the warmest city to have hosted a Winter Olympic Games

5. Mass Coverage: NBC will be providing a total of 1,539 hours of coverage. The breakdown is as follows:NBC (185 hours), NBCSN (230), MSNBC (45), USA Network (43), CNBC (36) and NBCOlympics.com (1,000 hours, online).