Vancouver Games say farewell, pass the flag to Sochi
Vancouver said farewell to the winter Games at a boisterous closing ceremony on Sunday, passing the Olympic flag on to the Russian resort of Sochi before the cauldron was extinguished.
It was a star-studded night at Vancouver's B.C. Place Stadium, where the opening ceremony had been held 16 days earlier.
A host of Canadian celebrities on the bill included rock legend Neil Young, actor Michael J. Fox, pop singer Avril Lavigne and singer-songwriters Michael Buble and Alanis Morisette.
Sochi also brought in plenty of big names from the worlds of sport, culture and entertainment including supermodel Natalia Vodianova for an eight-minute presentation of what the Games can expect in 2014.
The Sochi show featured dancers from the Bolshoi Theatre and the Marinsky Theatre joining for the first time alongside emerging talents from two other theatres and incorporated live broadcasts from the city and the capital Moscow, where the 1980 summer Games took place.
"These were excellent and very friendly Games," International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said before officially declaring the Vancouver Games closed.
Rogge also remembered Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who was killed in training hours before the opening ceremony on February 12. "We have shared the grief of an Olympic dream cut short," he said.
The IOC chief had a special word of praise for the volunteers and thanked the athletes for competing in a spirit of friendship and fair play.
"Thank you VANOC for an outstanding job. You have done it, you have won," said Rogge, who wore a red Canada scarf when he entered the stadium but discarded it for his speech.
VANOC chief John Furlong referred to how the last 16 days had changed the country.
"The time has come to say goodbye, to say thank you. And to perhaps compare for a moment the Canada that was to the Canada that now is.
"I believe we Canadians are stronger, more united more in love with our country and more connected to each other than ever before. The Olympic Games have lifted us up."
If the Canada at the start of the Games was a little mysterious to visitors it was no longer the case. "Now you know us, eh," he added.
To the people of Georgia "we are sad and so sorry for your loss," Furlong said. "May the legacy of your favourite son Nodar Kumaritashvili never be forgotten and serve to inspire youth everywhere to be champions in life."
Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson handed the Olympic flag to Sochi counterpart Anatoly Pakhomov via Rogge who had earlier in the day lauded the host city's "extraordinary embrace" of the Games.
A huge cheer went up for the entry of Canada's team for the informal parade of athletes, the flag carried by Joannie Rochette, the figure skater whose bronze medal coming after the death of her mother was just one of many heart-warming stories of the Games.
And Canada, which topped the medals standings, proved it could not only own the podium but also have a joke or two at its own expense.
To get the show going, the column from the cauldron which malfunctioned at the opening ceremony was finally raised and lit by former Olympic speed skating champion Catriona LeMay Doan, who missed her chance as one of the four torchbearers 16 days ago.
Later show elements included singing and dancing Mounties and flying moose, bears and beavers.
With Canada's hockey team winning a winter Games record 14th gold medal hours ea