The four year long wait is finally over – the Winter Olympics are in Sochi. The opening ceremony, held at Sochi’s Fischt Olympic Stadium in Russia, began Friday, February 07, 2014 at 7:30 EST.
The 2014 Winter Games is officially the first ever Olympics that the Russian Federation will have hosted. The Stadium itself was only constructed in 2013 and can hold a max of 40,000. The entire stadium is made of a glass surface, hoping that it will reflect sunlight throughout the day. After the 17 days for the 2014 Winter Games, the stadium will be used as a training center and match venue for the national Russian football team. Events happening at the Olympics will include Cross Country Skiing, Figure Skating, and Snowboarding. Many people all over the world will tune in to see who takes home the winning awards.
In what is being determined to be a technical difficulty, five snowflakes descended from the ceiling and then became the traditional Olympic circles, however, one of the snowflakes never opened which has caused a rowdy conversation for most. The rest of the show, fortunately, ran smoothly with no other problems. As soon as the ceremony initiated, fireworks exploded outside, creating beautiful scenery surrounding the stadium. The ceremony started with the traditional running of the torches. Alex Ovechkin ran for Russia although an American hockey player. This was before the President of Russia, President Vladimir Putin was introduced and then followed by about 100 athletes coming together to form the Russian flag. The lines of red, white, and blue illuminated the stadium as fans were cheering all around. Satellite pictures that were taken from space of each nation reflected across the floor of the Fischt Stadium and served as a fantastic backdrop for the games.
This was also the first Olympic Games that featured openly gay athletes, Brian Botiano and Caitlin Cahow. They are primarily serving as both a political and public figure of the country’s previous anti-gay stance. That being said, tATu, a group that has been described as a “faux-lesbian Russian pop duo,” performed at the pre-ceremony. Performances at the stadium included Liza Temnikova as Lyubov performed Voices of Russia. Anna Netrebko, an opera singer, sang the Olympic anthem. Other acts included some of Russia’s most traditional performaces – mainly its classical music and ballet. The presentation of the seven islands, that represent the different parts of Russia and its diversity, were set up in almost a scene-like play and drifted across the stage during the ceremony. “Get Lucky” was also performed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The many different acts of the opening ceremony were done in a formal and clean matter and are definitely going to set the bar high for future games.
The Sochi port also allowed families of Russia that couldn’t make it to the stadium itself to watch the live telecast of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
A city of 400,000 people and located in Krasnodar, Sochi is sure to bring a new meaning to the Olympics.
For more information on the medal count visit http://www.sochi2014.com/en.
