by Madeline Best

On February 7, the 22nd quadrennial winter Olympics opened in Sochi, Russia. This was the first time Russia has ever hosted the winter Olympics, having previously hosted the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow.

As the opening ceremony began, viewers were given a brief lesson of Russian history through visuals and graphics. Russian achievements through history served as the central theme of the opening ceremonies including depictions of the Russian military, a ballet performance of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, and colorful scenes of the famous domed buildings of Moscow in inflatable form. The one downfall of the opening ceremonies was a brief moment when five electronic snowflakes were to morph into the five Olympic rings, except only four out of five snowflakes worked. Other than this one moment, which was later turned into a joke at the closing ceremony, the ceremony continued on flawlessly. When it came time for the parade of nations, the creators of this years ceremony wanted to take a more fast-paced approach in order to speed up the notoriously boring part of the ceremony. With upbeat music playing in the background, the nations marched enthusiastically into the arena. Personally, I think that speeding up this process was a much needed change and I’m glad the creators saw this as well.

The closing ceremony aired on February 23 and while not as lavish as the opening, included incredible performances yet again displaying the art and culture of Russia. South Korea quickly became the center of attention as Russia handed over the winter Olympics at the end of the ceremony. The next winter Olympics will be held in South Korea in 2018.