Russia Pokes Fun At Opening Ceremony Ring Fail In Closing Ceremony

Russia took advantage of the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 23, to poke fun at itself by referencing the Olympic ring that failed to open in the Opening Ceremony.

During the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics, four giant, illuminated snowflakes appeared floating in the stadium. As they neared one another, they began to expand into circles to form the Olympic rings. Unfortunately, the snowflake at the top right of the display failed to open, thus being dubbed the first ‘Olympic fail’ of these 2014 Winter Olympics.

oops- first malfunction of the #OpeningCeremony – one flake doesn't open to form Olympic Rings pic.twitter.com/nM5JmrPewS

— Stacey Leasca (@SLeasca) February 7, 2014

The malfunction quickly went viral, inspiring internet users to create their own Olympic Rings pictures.

One of the Olympic rings had stage fright during the #OpeningCeremony: https://t.co/3swDZ4IcBG #Sochi2014 pic.twitter.com/osBaRofRDa

— Mashable (@mashable) February 8, 2014

The Olympic Rings mishap was so popular, it even ended up on T-shirts.

Unofficial Sochi Olympic Rings gear is now for sale: https://t.co/mH5ihBybVS | pic.twitter.com/gFd4MAvchO

— #Hashtags Clothing (@WearHashtags) February 10, 2014

At the closing ceremony on Sunday, Russia embraced the viral joke when dancers recreated the error while forming human Olympic rings. As the dancers got into position, forming interlocking circles in the stadium, a group of dancers on the upper right stayed clumped together, unable to expand into the fifth ring.

Closing ceremony re-creates #Olympic-ring failure https://t.co/SPzMQXyjHz pic.twitter.com/xUzRR4gD8F

— WTOP (@WTOP) February 24, 2014

After a few moments, the dancers moved into a circle, completing the Olympic rings. The official Sochi Olympics Twitter page tweeted a photo of the completed rings with the caption, “YES!!!”

YES!!! #OlympicRings ;o) #Sochi2014 #ClosingCeremony pic.twitter.com/wbrF5PJdnd

— Sochi 2014 (@Sochi2014) February 23, 2014

Sochi Olympics weren’t the only ones rejoicing. Russia’s willingness to make fun of themselves charmed viewers and Internet commentators alike.

In the closing ceremony, the Olympics staff showed that they know how to laugh at themselves https://t.co/v2XJTyWcI8 pic.twitter.com/dDfxf9Hpqf

— Mashable (@mashable) February 24, 2014

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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