Sochi 2014: One Year Later

Today marked the one-year anniversary of the Sochi Olympics.  (Technically they started on Feb. 6, but the official start wasn't until the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 7.)  Just like every Olympics, Sochi offered us plenty of memorable moments.  And while most of what we've heard about the Winter Olympics in the 12 months since Sochi, it's worth looking back to some of those lasting memories from the 2014 Sochi Olympics.



The Games got underway with Vladislav Tretiak and Elena Rodnina,
two of Russia's greatest Winter Olympians, lighting the cauldron.



Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndahlen made history right from the start,
winning two medals in biathlon, including a gold on Day 1, to give
him a Winter Olympic-record 13 career medals.

Erin Hamlin won the bronze in women's luge, the first singles
luge medal ever for an American.

It was an Orange Crush in speed skating, as the Netherlands
won 23 of 36 available medals, including four sweeps.

The 12 new events, especially in snowboarding and freestyle skiing
were kind to the Americans.  The U.S. won four golds in new events,
including Sage Kotsenburg's in men's slopestyle snowboarding.

After winning silver in Vancouver, Meryl Davis and
Charlie White did one better, becoming the first
Americans to win Olympic gold in ice dancing.

Yevgeny Plushenko set a record by winning a figure skating medal
in a fourth straight Olympics, helping Russia take gold in the inaugural
team trophy.

The most memorable game of the hockey tournament was the
USA-Russia showdown that went into a shootout, where T.J. Oshie
went over and over again until finally scoring the game-winner.

Darya Domracheva of Belarus was the most decorated athlete in
Sochi, winning three golds in biathlon.

Competing on home ice, Adelina Sotnikova became the first
Russian ever to win Olympic gold in ladies figure skating.

Russia won the most medals (33) and the most golds (13), with
former Korean Viktor Ahn contributing the country's first
three ever in short track speed skating.

Another naturalized Russian citizen, American-born
Vic Wild, won two gold medals in snowboarding.

There was a historic tie in the women's downhill, with Austria's
Dominique Gisin and Slovenia's Tina Maze sharing the gold.

The bear that first made an appearance at the Closing Ceremony of
the 1980 Moscow Summer Games blew out the Olympic flame,
as Sochi gave way to Pyeongchang, South Korea, the 2018 host.

There are plenty of other Sochi memories I could've chosen, but those 14 (yes, I settled on that number intentionally) are the ones that stand out the most in my mind.  For all the concerns people had leading up to the Games, Sochi pulled it off.  Just like you knew they would.  Just like every Olympics does.  That's what makes every Olympics special.  And Sochi was no different.