Warm winds from the snow-clad hills: Lasting impressions from the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

The Olympics are a cauldron unlike any other that sport can offer. And Russia can pat itself on the back for an edition of the Winter Games that spread more warmth for athletes, officials and spectators than any in recent memory – both literally and figuratively.

A warmer than usual spring saw images of athletes and spectators dress down to tees and shorts. Humour mongers found their scripts laced with puddles, and everyone had a good time.

The flags are packed and the athletes are back in the cosy confines of their comfortable homes. The memories though will linger.

The Olympics are about sport and the many refined lessons they bring us as a species. In the endeavours of our heroes – men and women who come to consummate their mind numbing hard-work – we find our inspiration and joy. We savour the fruits of their labour, like they were our own. And the Games never disappoint us, bringing forth treasured memories with unfailing consistency.

Sportsmanship is an edifying virtue

There was plenty of poignancy too, as you would expect of an Olympics. The image that shall define Sochi for me would be the one that involved Anton Gafarov and Justin Wadsworth. The Russian skier suffered a fall as he navigated the turn during the cross country sprint semifinals.

Russia’s Anton Gafarov being helped by Canadian coach Justin Wadsworth after his ski broke

One of his skis was damaged, but after lying in the snow for a bit, the athlete picked himself up to continue his limping run, 3 minutes off the pace. A little later he fell again and the ski snapped in half. Yet again, he dusted himself off the floor to make the impossible march to the finish.

In an emotionally satiating experience, Wadsworth, a coach at the Games, ran down the side of the hill with a solitary ski in hand to assist Gafarov change gear and complete the course. Only, Wadsworth was a coach with the Canadian team, not the Russian.

It was a moment that exemplified the spirit of the Games and showed at once how sport has always meant to be played. In Gafarov’s insistence on completing his run despite no real chance of winning and in the generosity of Wadsworth, we rediscovered our own love for sport.

A good laugh can be a great cure

Speaking of spirit, the Russians also showed they aren’t really as uptight as they seem to be, with a master stroke that brought much joy and laughter during the closing ceremony.

The opening ceremony was a terrific show, but it wasn’t without a glitch. One of the routines involved five snowflakes exploding into the conjoined Olympic rings. Unfortunately, one of those flakes refused to open, forcing the television producers to scramble for the rehearsal footage to save the moment.

In an unexpected twist, the organizers used that in the closing ceremony, feeding on the irony to remind people of the imperfections that make life so uniquely beautiful. Dressed like silver fish, a bunch huddled into a tight snow flake, even as their colleagues sprung together into four of the rings, holding down for a moment before forming the fifth. There was plenty of laughter that went with it.

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat

How can you have a winter Olympics without an ice hockey story? The American women were leading 2-0 with less than three and a half minutes left on the clock. They had lost two of their last three gold medal games to Canada and naturally they were exuberant about their prospects.

Somehow though the Canadians stuck out and found the breaks needed to reverse the tide. Eventually Canada won 3-2 in overtime to script a memorable victory that captured daring defiance and desperate disappointment in the same frame.

The pride of a weathered man

In his sixth Olympics, 43-year-old Teemu Selanne epitomized why sport can be sapping yet never tiring. The Finnish winger held out and gazed at his bronze medal, his fourth Olympic medal, with the longing look of a man in love for the very first time.

The pride in his moist eyes captivated us. He also knew his time was up and that explained why he might treasure this medal more than the others. In his victory, we discovered the timelessness of sport and the many stories it tells us. We would be so much poorer without men like Selanne.

Sealing a legacy

Marit Bjoergen underlined her claims to greatness with a sixth gold medal when she won the brutally demanding 30km event. It was also the 33-year-old Norwegian woman’s 10th Olympic medal.

Her success helped her emulate the mark for the most gold medals at the winter Olympics by a woman, alongside speed skater Lidia Skoblikova and another cross country skier Lyubov Yegorova. Marit’s haul of 10 medals also equals the record held by cross country skiers Stefania Belmondo and Raisa Smetanina.

Keeping her company in the legacy stakes was a fellow Norwegian, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. The 40-year-old, nicknamed ‘cannibal’ because of his voracious appetite for success, earned his 13th medal at the Olympics to surpass Bjorn Daehlie. Ole Einar achieved the feat when he won gold, his eighth, in the biathlon mixed relay on 19 February.

Finally – sport is fun, but there is always more to life

Gus Kenworthy with the 4 stray puppies he adopted

The authorities in Sochi were taking in strays and killing them as the dogs turned into a nuisance during the Games. With a warm embrace, slopestyle silver medallist Gus Kenworthy reminded everyone that life transcends sport. He offered love to a dog and her litter and the image touched hearts.

Kenworthy helped shine further light on the issue by taking to Twitter with a family of dogs in his arms that he was trying to vaccinate and take home. The American’s act of kindness was a blissful reminder of the people we could be if we tried.