In an Olympic Record, More Than 50 World Leaders to Attend Sochi Games

Among the leaders are Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Norway's King Harald V and Prime Minister Erna Solberg. "The Games in Sochi will be record-setting in the history of the Winter Games in terms of attendance of heads of state and government," the Games organizers told R-Sport in a statement. "That's more than at the last two Games in Turin and Vancouver combined," they added. US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron are among the more conspicuous names to have turned down invitations; while French President Francois Hollande declared in December he would not attend and German President Joachim Gauck explicitly cited Russia's human rights record as the reason he would skip it. Gay rights groups have called for an all-out boycott of the Sochi Games due to a law signed last year by President Vladimir Putin that criminalizes any perceived promotion of homosexuality to under-18s. The Games run February 7-23.
Delegates: Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge, Honorary President of the International Olympic Committee Prince Feisal Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, IOC member Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, IOC member Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar Prince Albert II of Monaco Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark Filip Vujanovic, President of Montenegro Olafur Grimsson, President of Iceland Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General Tomislav Nikolic, President of Serbia Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China Algirdas Butkevicius, Prime Minister of Lithuania Andris Berzins, President of Latvia Plamen Oresharski, Prime Minister of Bulgaria Najib Mikati, Caretaker Prime Minister of Lebanon. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia Sauli Niinisto, President of Finland Adrian Hasler, Prime Minister of Liechtenstein, IOC member Andrus Ansip, Prime Minister of Estonia Milos Zeman, President of the Czech Republic Kim Yong-Nam, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea Karolos Papoulias, President of Greece Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan Serzh Sargsyan, President of Armenia Abdelilah Benkriane, Prime Minister of Morocco Iurie Leanca, Prime Minister of Moldova Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Didier Burkhalter, President of Switzerland Victor Ponta, Prime Minister of Romania Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan Gjorge Ivanov, President of Macedonia Ivo Josipovic, President of Croatia Almazbek Atambayev, President of Kyrgyzstan King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, IOC member Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, President of Turkmenistan Werner Faymann, Chancellor of Austria Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan Enrico Letta, Prime Minister of Italy Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan Viktor Yanukovych, President of Ukraine Janos Ader, President of Hungary Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus Ivan Gasparovic, President of Slovakia King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway Jyrki Katainen, Prime Minister of Finland King Harald V of Norway Ivica Dacic, Prime Minister of Serbia Rosen Plevneliev, President of Bulgaria Tigran Sarkisyan, Prime Minister of Armenia Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina