Sochi closing ceremony: Games end with flourish as protest fears melt away

His ice hockey team failed to follow the script. But just about everything else went to plan for a watching Vladimir Putin as Russia celebrated a rush of medals in Sochi with a triumphant closing ceremony on the shores of the Black Sea.

After spending $51bn (£31bn) to build a mountain ski resort and a cluster of shimmering sports venues from scratch not to mention the roads and railways to link them failure was not an option for the omnipresent Russian president.

At the opening ceremony a fortnight ago, all the talk was of security fears, culls of stray dogs, last-minute glitches and a giant hydraulic snowflake that failed to open.

But by the closing ceremony which featured ballet from the Bolshoi, music by Rachmaninov and tributes to Tolstoy and Kandinsky plus the usual protocol the atmosphere was one of pure celebration swathed in the colours of the Russian flag. International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, declared the most expensive Games in history "a real special experience". He also personally thanked Putin for his contribution to the "extraordinary success of these Winter Games".

The organisers could even afford to laugh at themselves. The early part of the ceremony featured a knowing nod to the failed snowflake, with a shimmering shoal of dancers making up four of the five rings, before belatedly forming the fifth.

The opening ceremony had been a pleasingly offbeat romp through Russian art and culture. With its marching bands and 1,000-strong children's choir singing the national anthem, this was more of a traditional show of strength.

For the Russians who wildly cheered a clean sweep of the podium in the 50km cross country skiing and a second gold in the bobsleigh for Alexander Zubkov on the final day of competition, a surge of sporting success helped it go with a swing.

The Russian ice hockey team had limped out of the competition to Finland at the quarter-final stage, leaving Canada to triumph over Sweden in Sunday's final.

But Russia, who finished an abject 11th in the medal table in Vancouver four years ago, have poured tens of billions of roubles into ensuring they weren't humiliated at their own party.

As in London, a raft of medals for hometown favourites, a tribe of 25,000 helpful volunteers and a well-judged but extensive security operation buoyed the mood.

"The success of the home team is always an important part of the success of the Games overall. This we saw just two years ago with Team GB in London," said Bach.

The Russian deputy prime minister had earlier said the huge price tag had been worth it and claimed that the Games had helped rebrand his country in the eyes of the world.

"The friendly faces, the warm Sochi sun and the glare of the Olympic gold have broken the ice of scepticism towards the new Russia," insisted Dmitry Kozak. "The Games have turned our country, its culture and the people into something that is a lot closer and more appealing and understandable for the rest of the world."

When the Russian team paraded into the stadium to huge cheers and chants of "Russ-ee-aa", even Putin allowed himself a thin smile.

They also had a little help from overseas. The Korean-born speed skater Viktor Ahn, who switched nationality in 2011, won three golds and US-born snowboarder Vic Wild, who acquired Russian citizenship through marriage in 2012, won two.

Not that anyone in the packed Fisht Stadium seemed to care, after the hosts finished the Games with a total of 33 medals, 13 of them gold.

The gold medallist Lizzy Yarnold led a 56-strong team of British athletes that also met expectations, equalling their best ever medal haul of four in 1924.

Billy Morgan, a snowboarder and former acrobat who is one of a clutch of "fridge kids" who have captured the imagination at these Games, flipped his way into the arena in his Team GB tracksuit.

The build-up had been beset by a cocktail of security fears, human rights concerns and unease about the huge cost. They did not go away entirely. Images of Pussy Riot being whipped by Cossack guards while performing a song called Putin Will Teach You How to Love the Motherland in front of the Olympic logo will linger. On the penultimate day, a coalition of 33 human rights groups wrote to the IOC calling on it to demand higher standards of its host cities. But the predicted podium protests failed to materialise and Bach insisted on the closing day that athletes had not been leaned on.

"The Games are not about political disagreements. They are not about political confrontation," said the German, overseeing his first Games as president.

As three giant animatronic mascots and a cast of hundreds of children extinguished the Olympic flame, amid the traditional fireworks, the debate over whether the Games have been worth the huge investment required to build a new city from scratch was only just beginning.

The Russians say they have uses for each of the glittering sports palaces built by the Black Sea and hope Sochi, with its new mountain resort and port, will become a destination for tourists and conferences in summer and winter.

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Olympic Speedskating: Korean Transplant Victor An Finds Golden Home in Russia

The Russian fans were going crazy standing, cheering, banging drums.

Victor An was in the process of winning a short-track bronze medal for the Olympics' host country, but he was also hearing plenty of boos from Korean fans.

Because Victor An has another name, a Korean name. He is also known as Ahn Hyun-Soo.

Whatever his name, he is a star short-track speedskating athlete and now a Russian hero after winning gold Saturday in the 1,000 meters.

Until 2011, An competed successfully but contentiously for his native South Korea, and after much trouble with the Korean federation, he became a Russian citizen and began preparing for the Sochi Games. From what we've seen so far, the change has been a success.

An, 28, has won a bronze in the 1,500 and gold in the 1,000, with the 500 coming up on Feb. 21.

Sure, it seems against the Olympic spirit, this country-shopping, but it's happened before. It used to feel as if the Olympics was about rooting for our own country's athletes, even if they weren't the best, because they were raised and trained at home.

Now, more and more, we want to see the best, and who they compete for isn't as important.

An won Russia's first-ever short-track event with his gold in a nation more noted for long-track speedskating, as Russia chose to strengthen its short-track program by going outside the country. And An had good reasons for leaving. He was left off Korea's short-track team in 2010 even after he worked hard to rehabilitate sore knees.

It seemed like a real slap in the face to the short-track star, who still wanted to skate at the highest level and win medals for South Korea.

But if South Korea didn't want him, others did. Russia made him the best offer. He has an apartment in Moscow where he and his fiancee live and a contract that will allow him to continue coaching in Russia after the Sochi Games if he wants to. Even the U.S. tried to recruit An to its team.

This is An's fourth Winter Olympics, and his resume is impressive: He's won six medals, including three for South Korea in 2006 in Turin before deciding to change nationalities.

When An medaled for Russia in the 1,500 meters, he thrust a fist in the air but had to be prompted to grab a Russian flag to carry as he skated a lap around the ice with fans chanting "Vic-tor, Vic-tor," according to Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Tribune.

It was hard to tell if the fans understood the sport, since Russians tend to win more often in long-track speedskating. But they got the part about the medal.

According to Zeigler, it's unclear if An had even set foot, or skate, in Russia before obtaining his citizenship.

Russian short-track coach Sebastien Cros, who happens to be French, told the San Diego paper, "Korea didn't want anything to do with him. So he came to Russia."

Zeigler's article also stats that after coming home from the 2006 Turin games, An and his father engaged in a screaming match with the Korean federation in the airport, an embarrassing moment witnessed by many. That split the South Korean team into an An camp and an anti-An camp.

The dispute reportedly had to do with training methods. An injured his knee in 2008 and was left off Korea's 2010 team, a controversial decision, and the final push that sent An and his father looking for another home.

The Ans even approached the United States, but Russia offered more money, so An signed a contract through the 2014 Olympics to be a Russian skater, with an option to remain as a coach.

He said he changed his name to Victor because he wanted to honor a Russian rock star he admired, Viktor Tsoi, whose father also had a Korean background.

"I thought that I could have a better chance to prepare myself for competitions, that my training environment would be more favorable in Russia," An said last Monday in Sochi, per Zeigler. "So I just changed my citizenship."

Other short-track skaters don't seem to mind, and even a Korean newspaper poll gave An a 61 percent approval for leaving.

“It is good because a champion is beautiful to see in this sport,” Italy’s Yuri Confortola told Zeigler in his report on An. “I prefer him to come back with Korea because I think he’s a Korean. I don’t like changing countries. But I prefer to see Victor An skate. With Russia is better than nothing.”

Another skater, Canada's Michael Gilday, said, "You need the best skaters on the ice. That makes the best show for the fans and helps grow the sport, so as a competitor you can't have sour grapes over the fact some guy who's really good and has a bunch of Olympic gold medals is all of a sudden getting another shot."

Cros noted that An has been in Russia for four years, has learned to speak Russian and has gotten Russian doctors who made his achy knees better.

"Always, there will be some comments like this," Cros told Zeigler. "But, you know, it's not my problem."

American short-track star Apolo Anton Ohno, who always had a big rivalry with Korean skaters in winning his eight Olympic medals, called An's defection "big news in speedskating," per Eurosport. "Any time you switch citizenship to race for another country, it's a big deal.

"I personally could never do it. But the one thing we can say for him is that he loves the sport and if that meant he had to switch the country he is representing, it really shows how dedicated he is."

There's always a debate. Should the Olympics be only about showcasing the best athletes or giving every country a chance to win something. But viewers of the Games, as many of those athletes said, want to see the best, and to them, it doesn't matter what country the best are competing for.

An belonged on the ice this year, and Russia gave him that chance, welcoming him with the best of training and medical care and a comfortable life that has allowed him to show his best so far. An told reporters through an interpreter that he will always be appreciative of what the Russians have done for him.

"I am happy to be a citizen of two countries and I hold no ill-will to Korea," An said to reporters in a post-race interview that was replayed to Bleacher Report on tape.

"I know now that I made the right decision and I'm now a man who has experienced success in two cultures. For me, that is an honor. I hope my countrymen in Russia are happy and I don't wish Korea anything but success. I feel I am lucky."

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Russia vs. Slovenia: TV Info, Live Stream and More for Olympics Hockey 2014

The Slovenian hockey team couldn't have been thrilled upon discovering their opening opponent for the 2014 Olympics.

I mean, on this kind of stage it is best not to worry about the opponent as much as just focusing on playing well as a team. That said, drawing Russia to begin the Olympic journey is not a favorable starting point.

The Russians haven't won a hockey Olympic medal since 2002, and the 2010 team was such a disappointment that it was addressed at the regional parliament of the Siberian city of Tomsk.

The Russians really want this gold. The team is loaded with talent, and they would appear to be the biggest stars on the Russian landscape:

Alex Ovechkin leads a talented team. The Washington Capitals star is the poster boy for this team and perhaps the whole Russian Olympic experience:

This is for good reason. His otherworldly skill has been dominating the NHL for years. Also Ovechkin, one of the torch bearers for these games, has really embraced the importance of the hockey team with the Olympics being held on Russian soil.

Here is a quote from Ovechkin, provided by Yahoo's Greg Wyshynski, speaking to that point: "You can ask any Canadian guy what’s the biggest moment for them when they play on national team, it’s home Olympic Games.”

The setting will be electric for this one.

Where: Bolshoy Ice Dome, Sochi
When: Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 a.m. ET
TV: CBC, MSNBC
Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com

Key Storyline: Will Slovenia be overwhelmed by the moment?

Slovenia will be a facing a team on a mission featuring all-world talent. That team will be backed by a boisterous and passionate home crowd that is ravenous for hockey gold.

Slovenia will be doing so not just in their first appearance in these Olympics but in any Olympics.

On paper, the Slovenia roster would not seem to have a roster that is capable of handling all of this. The team boasts of just one current NHL player: Kings center Anze Kopitar.

For his part, Kopitar is doing a good job of maintaining perspective. Here is a quote from the center, as provided by Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times:

I’m sure they've been looking forward to this day for a long, long time too. The crowd’s going to be fired up and we’re going to be fired up, so it should be a good match.

If Slovenia can manage to keep this game close in the late stages, all of the crowd support and emotion could actually start working against Russia. The weight of the expectations has the power to build into a smothering tension.

Of course, what is more likely is that Slovenia will fall behind early and essentially become spectators to a celebration of Russian hockey.

Prediction: Russia 4, Slovenia 0

Slovenia is going to be overwhelmed. Russia will be backed with way too much emotion, and they have far too much proven talent to let those emotions overwhelm them.

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