Records tumbled on the first day of medal action at the Sochi Winter Olympics today as organisers breathed a sigh of relief after a dazzling opening ceremony hailed as a success around the world.
Under picture-perfect blue skies US snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg took the first gold in the inaugural men's slopestyle event but two veterans stole the headlines.
Forty-year-old Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen became the joint highest medal winner in Winter Olympics history with his victory in the sprint while compatriot Marit Bjoergen, 33, became her country's most successful female Olympian with victory in the skiathlon.
Sven Kramer of the Netherlands led a Dutch clean sweep in the men's 5,000 metres speed skating on a day when five gold medals were due to be handed out.
A glittering opening ceremony on Friday took the focus off the litany of concerns that have dogged the run-up to the Olympics -- a project championed by President Vladimir Putin -- including Russia's gay rights record and security.
Thousands of fireworks exploded above the Fisht stadium on the Black Sea coast during a event that won gushing praise at home and abroad, despite an early mishap when one of the Olympic rings failed to morph from a snowflake.
"We missed this for so many years... A pride for our country, a feeling for her power, unity and greatness. Yesterday, we felt it," the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily said.
"It was a great and overwhelming ceremony. I am proud of what we have done," said the head of the Sochi organising committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, adding that Putin had also declared himself "satisfied" with the result.
He also defended the choice of triple Olympic gold medal winning ice skater Irina Rodnina to light the Olympic cauldron, after last year she tweeted a picture of US President Barack Obama with a banana, condemned by activists as a racist gesture.
"Irina Rodnina is one of the most respected Olympic athletes. The Olympics are not about politics," he said.
