Results from Feb. 6
In women's slopestyle Americans Jamie Anderson and Karly Shoor advanced to the finals.
Jessica Jenson of the USA advanced to the semifinals.
In team figure skating, Jeremy Abbott and pairs Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir have the USA tied for 5th place(7th after tiebreakers) after the first day.
Hannah Kearney of the USA advanced to the finals of women's ski moguls.
Opening ceremony highlights from Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia:
There are 88 countries participating and over 2,800 athletes competing. They are the most ever for a winter Olympics.
The opening ceremony that opened the Games of the XXII Winter Olympiad told the story of Russia's history through the dreams of an 11 year old Russian girl. There was a video of famous Russian artists Chagall, Kandinsky and Malevich, Composer Tchaikovsky and writers Chekhov, Pushkin and Tolstoy, the Russian Space Station and Chemist Mendeleev.
There was a glitch as snowflakes on cables were supposed to form the Olympic rings and one of them failed to open so there was four Olympic rings instead of five.
Next, the Russian state anthem was performed by the Sretensky Monastery Choir which has been around for over 600 years. During the performance Russians in LED costumes made the Russian flag on the floor of the stadium.
Then there was the parade of nations. The nations order was determined by the Cyrillic alphabet which is used in Russia. Greece was the first nation to enter the stadium. The USA had very nice sweaters and hats made by Polo. The USA has 230 athletes which is the second most of all time in a winter Olympics. Russia has 232 athletes, which is the most ever at a winter Olympics. Canada has 220 athletes while Switzerland has 163, Germany has 153, Austria 133, Norway 118, France 114, Japan 113 and Sweden 111.
The second part after the parade of nations was a thousand years of Russian history in three minutes. There was an 80 feet tall and 213 feet long Trioka(three horses pulling a carriage) which is a symbol of power and hope to Russians.
There was a Russian folk tale about the origin of Russia formed in the belly of a whale.
The scene switched from Medieval Russia to Imperialist Russia and Peter the Great and then again moved from the Imperialist age to the 20th century and the Russian revolution.
A white light was used to remember the 20 million who died in World War II.
The little girl appeared again who flied around the stadium chasing after a red balloon. The balloon represented the end of the 20th century dream, saying goodbye to the past.
Russian ballroom dancers performed to Swan Lake.
Next, the Olympic flag was raised and the Olympic hymn was sung. IOC President Thomas Bach of Germany spoke, followed by Russian president Putin who declared the games open.
The next part paid tribute to the athletes. It was called the Olympic gods. A light show depicted different winter games sports. In this part 250 roller skaters were wearing LED costumes.
The torch entered the stadium. Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova handed the torch off to Russian track star Yelena Isinbayeva who handed the torch to Russian wrestler Alexander Karelin who handed it off to Russian gymnast Alina Kabayeva who handed it off to Russian figure skater Irina Rodnina who finally handed it off to Russian hockey goalie Vadislov Tretiak. Rodnina and Tretiak both ran toward the cauldron and Tretiak lit the cauldron, which is outside of the stadium.
Overall, in my opinion this opening ceremony was second best all time to Beijing in 2008. This opening ceremony was creative with lots of moving images on the ground and in the air. I am a fan of these high tech opening ceremonies. Lots of color, artistry, and fireworks. The cauldron was very modern and sleek. The Russian venues are all new and modern looking. Well done Sochi!
Photos credit: Getty Images, UPI and other media sources. For blog use only.
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