The issue is dedicated to three winter sports: ice hockey, biathlon and curling.
The XXII Winter Olympics 2014 is going to become a true sports festival. Over 6000 sports men and team members of about 85 countries will be gathering in Sochi in 2014. Sports competitions within the framework of the Olympics will be held from 7 till 23 February 2014, 98 medal sets will be awarded.
Ice hockey is a team sport played on the ice; there are two teams playing. By passing a puck with sticks the skaters aim to shoot it into the opponent’s net and to protect their own net. The team who score more points wins the game.
Biathlon is a sport combining cross-country skiing and rifle shooting in several shooting rounds. At the moment the Winter Olympics programme includes five biathlon events for men and five events for women: individual, sprint, pursuit, mass start and relay. In addition there is a recent competition biathlon variant – mixed relay.
Curling is a team sporting game played at the ice rink. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy granite stones (“rocks”) towards a circular target marked on the ice (“the house”).
There are three postal stamps in an illustrated cover and FDCs with cancellation inside.
Design: A. Drobyshev
Face value: 25 rub.
Size of stamp: 37х37 mm.
Form of issue: sheets with margin design (3x3) of 8 stamps and a coupon.
Circulation: 560 thousand stamps of each theme (70 thousand sheets).