The official opening ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympic Games took place at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi on 7 February.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and head of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva attended the ceremony.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the Sochi Winter Olympic Games’ participants and spectators 10 minutes before the official opening of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

The flag of the Russian Federation was raised and the Russian national anthem was played at the start of the ceremony to open the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

This was followed by the traditional parade of sportsmen. Azerbaijan’s team was the fourth in the parade. Our country’s flag was carried by a member of the skiing team, Patrick Brachner.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and head of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva greeted our sportsmen from the podium for guests of honour.

When the sportsmen’s parade ended, a video film in the form of a children’s alphabet book was shown which told the audience about the Olympic Games’ host country, its achievements and its leading lights.

Next came a theatrical performance entitled “Dreams of Russia”, the main heroine of which was a little girl called Lyubov. She lead the spectator through the centuries, through an incredibly diverse country spreading over 6.6 million kilometres, with nine time zones and inhabited by 150 different peoples.

This was followed by a dynamic parade of athletes during which the Games’ participants came up on stage via a special 48-metre ramp in the centre of the stadium, against the backdrop of a panorama of their country from space. A special floor was laid at the Fisht Stadium for this. 

After a brief firework display, the Olympic Games’ mascots –a white Bear, a Leopard and a Hare - all larger than life-size – greeted the audience.

Then the spectators were treated to a brief excursion into the history of Sochi where the Games are being held. Stars of the Russian silver screen lead the audience from the times of the Greek Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece to the present day in an entertaining film clip.

A theatrical excursion into Russia’s history from the birth of statehood to the present day continued after the athletes had gone through.

When the theatrical performance was over, the president of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games’ Organizing Committee, Dmitriy Chernyshenko, and Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), went up on stage. 

D. Chernyshenko delivered a speech in which he greeted everybody at the XXII Winter Olympic Games. “Our city is unique, just as the whole of Russia is unique. Europe meets Asia here. We are proud of having the right to host the Olympic Games“, the head of the Organizing Committee said. He thanked the International Olympic Committee for granting the city the right to hold the Games.

Addressing the Games, Thomas Bach, the head of the IOC, welcomed the heads of states and governments to the Olympic capital. He emphasized Sochi’s achievements over seven years and said he was confident that the legacy of the Games would be long-lasting. 

“The Olympic Games never raise walls between peoples. They create a single family,” Bach said. He called for a renunciation of political ideology during the Olympic Games.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the XXII Winter Olympic Games open.

Then film director Nikita Mikhalkov; actress and co-founder of the Podari Zhizn (Gift of Life) charity fund, Chulpan Khamatova; ice-hockey star Vyacheslav Fetisov; speed skater Lidiya Skoblikova; the first woman cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova; Anastasiya Popova, Vesti TV news special correspondent in Syria; conductor Valery Gergiyev; and cyber-athlete Alan Yenileyev all bore the Olympic flag into the stadium.

The Olympic anthem was played.

Ruslan Zakharov, a member of the Russian short-track speed skating team, took the Olympic oath on behalf of the sportsmen and women. Vyacheslav Vedenin took the oath on behalf of the judges, and Anastasiya Popkova, a downhill skiing trainer, took the oath on behalf of the trainers.

The Olympic flame was lit in the stadium at the close of the ceremony by three-time Olympic champions, the figure-skater, Irina Rodnina, and the renowned ice-hockey goal-keeper, Vladislav Tretyak. 

A festive firework display rounded off the ceremony.

Azerbaijani viewers watched a live relay of the XXII Winter Olympic Games’ opening ceremony on Public Television.

The Sochi Olympic Games have already set a number of records. For instance, representatives of 88 countries will compete in Sochi – this is six countries more than the number which competed in Vancouver four years ago. Ninety-eight sets of medals will be won in Sochi – 12 sets more than in 2010.

These Winter Olympics are the fifth for Azerbaijan’s national team. Four sportsmen and women are representing our country in Sochi. They will compete in two categories of sports. In the men’s alpine downhill skiing, Azerbaijan is represented by the Austrian, Patrick Brachner, and by the Swiss, Jedrij Notz. Also, Yuliya Zlobina and Aleksey Sitnikov are representing Azerbaijan in the figure-skating ice dance competitions in Sochi.