With 98 medal events, Sochi 2014 would be the largest Winter Olympic Games to history. Twelve new events were introduced to the Sochi Olympic calendar to encourage gender equality and collaboration between the sexes. As a result, mixed team events in figure skating, biathlon, and luge were introduced. Additionally, the first ever all-female bobsled team competed for Russia at the Sochi Games. Sochi is a city on the Black Sea coast of Russia with a population of 563,000 people. It hosts the annual World Ice Dancing Championships and the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships. The city is known for its hosting duties during the Winter Olympics and Paralympics; hence it is also called the "Olympic City." Sochi hosted the Winter Olympics for the first time in 2014. The games were opened by former Soviet Union president Boris Yeltsin and closed by Russian president Vladimir Putin. A total of 964 athletes from 51 countries participated in the games, which included a record number of women's athletes. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Fisht Stadium on February 7 and February 23 respectively. Both ceremonies were broadcast live by Russian television channel Rossiya 1. International audiences could see 20 percent of U.S. households via NBC Sports Network. Sochi has been praised for its beautiful location and cheap tickets. However, the city has been criticized for its poor infrastructure.