A grand show closed the 22^nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi after 16 days of passionate performance, victories and disappointments. The Games in Sochi will remain in history as the most expensive Olympics until now that took place under exceptional security measures. The sum of $ 50 billion that Russia paid for the organization of the games seems extravagantly high, but there is no Olympics without records. However, for fans the most important records are those in sports, and Sochi 2014 will be remembered with a truly unique performance.

A record number of 88 nations competed in Russia. On home soil, the Russian team achieved its most successful performance at Winter Olympics and won a total of 33 medals - 13 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze. The Russian hockey team was surprisingly eliminated in the quarterfinals after a disappointing performance, but the rest of the country’s athletes brought much happiness to their fans. At the previous Olympics in Canada, Russia won a total of 15 medals, but now convincingly topped the medals ranking to the delight of President Putin.

The team of the USA performed more poorly compared to Vancouver 2010 and remained second in terms of total medals - 28. In the ranking of gold medals, the U.S. ranked fourth after Russia, Norway and Canada, but the Olympics always bring surprises and even the most successful teams are not immune to failure. Some of the greatest hopes of the American team such as snowboarder Shaun White performed disappointingly, while 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin won the gold medal in the women's slalom at her first Olympic participation.

In the medals ranking, Norway ranked third with 26 medals, and at the last Olympics in his career legendary biathlete Bjoerndalen added two gold medals to his rich collection. Canada remained fourth with a total of 25 medals and a second consecutive gold in the Olympic hockey tournament.

The Netherlands Olympic team also achieved a unique record. In all competitions in skating for men and women, the Dutchmen failed to win a medal. Thus their delegation that was one of the smallest at the Olympics ranked fifth with a total of 24 medals.

In Sochi, Poland achieved the biggest success at Winter Olympics so far. From 1976 to 2006, the country has won a total of 5 medals at the Winter Games. In 2010, the Polish athletes took 6 medals - two bronze, three silver and one gold. In Sochi, the athletes won four gold medals, one silver and one bronze and once again demonstrated the great sporting progress of the country in recent years. Poland's Kamil Stoch became the third skier in the history of ski jumping who succeeded in winning two Olympic gold medals in the individual events.

Unfortunately, Bulgaria performed as expected and was not ranked in the list of countries medalists, but the battle for medals among the major participants brought incredible emotions of the fans. Alexandra Zhekova was close to a medal in snowboarding, but the lack of luck prevented this from happening and Bulgaria will be hoping for more snow Olympic success after 4 years.

The Olympic spirit remains in Sochi until the middle of March, when the Winter Paralympic Games will end, but one thing is clear - the Olympics in Sochi will remain in the hearts of lovers of winter sports for a long time afterwards.

English version: Rossitsa Petcova