The 2014 Winter Olympics ended Sunday night, and like others around the world, you’re probably stuck going through gold medal withdrawal. Here’s a recap of what you missed, the best moments of the Olympics, and some Russian flubs.
In terms of medals, the host country of Russia came out on top with a grand total of 33 medals. They also had the most gold and silver medals of any nation which makes their domination of the Games even more impressive. The United States of America came in second place with 28 medals, and Norway rounded out the top three with 26 medals.
A total of 98 events were held in 15 winter sports from the February 7th Opening Ceremonies to the February 23rd Closing Ceremonies. A record number of nations, 88, qualified to compete in the Games, with 7 nations making their Winter Olympics debut. The United States had the most athletes competing, 230.
The build up to the Games was marked by a few different controversies. These included allegations about government corruption involved in the distribution of funds for the Olympic spaces, LGBT issues surrounding the safety and rights of athletes and spectators following the passage of a Russian propaganda law, animal rights issues, and protests over the selection of the Sochi site by Circassian activists which they believed is the site of an ethnic genocide. This was a controversial Games to be sure, and was the first Olympics held in the Russian Federation (Moscow had previously held the 1980 Summer Olympics when it was the Soviet Union).
Here are some of our favorite moments from the Olympics
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The Opening Ceremonies were marked by a slight Russian failure, when one of the five Olympic rings failed to open. The image went viral, sparking plenty of jokes that
whomever was responsible would soon be found in Siberia. Oops!
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During the men’s cross-country sprint semifinal, Russia’s Anton Gafarov crashed and
broke one of his skis. Canadian coach Justin Wadsworth raced to Gafarov’s rescue and gave him a new ski to assist him across the finish line after he fell again. This was a touching moment of cross-nation sportsmanship
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Canada dominated hockey and curling. The Canadian men and women’s teams both beat out their respective opponents. We’re all still feeling the pain of being eliminated from the hockey finals( here’s looking to you Finland), but if anyone should win gold it should be our friendly neighbors to the north.
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20 year old USA snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg won the first gold medal of the 2014 games in the slopestyle event.
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We fell in love with 15 year old Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaia after her amazing performance in the team skating. Seriously, Youtube her routine, it’s amazing.
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Bode Miller won a bronze medal in the Super-G, his fifth Olympic Games. He delivered a heartbreaking interview for NBC after his performance, dedicating his success to his younger brother Cherlone who passed away this year.
Now, the countdown begins for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016! So until the next Games, these moments will have to tide us over.