Moscow - Anatoly Pakhomov, the Kremlin-backed candidate, won a landslide victory in the race for the mayor's post in Sochi, host city of the Olympic Winter Games 2014, news reports said Monday.

The Itar-Tass news agency, quoting election officials, said with about 80 per cent of the votes counted, Pakhomov had won 77 per cent of the vote. Opposition candidate Boris Nemtsov came second with 13.5 per cent, followed by the Communist candidate Yuri Dzaganiya.

During the campaign the opposition complained that media coverage strongly favoured Pakhomov, the candidate backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.

Pakhomov, the incumbent, was the favourite in the elections in the Black Sea city. The polls created national and international interest, as the hosting the 2014 Games is regarded a priority for the Kremlin.

Sochi's mayor is to play a key role in allocating the approximately 13 billion dollars the Russian government plans to invest in the Games. (dpa)