Sochi After Dark: The End
It happens every time.
The Olympics end abruptly, without the fanfare that accompanied the opening ceremonies. People go back to their lives, the athletes go home and the journalists finally get to leave the Sochi equivalent of the Hanoi Hilton.
So where do we stand? For all of the hand wringing and jokes made at the expense of the Olympic village, these games went smoothly. It seems the Olympics usually do, regardless of how bad things seem.
Russia won the most gold medals and topped the total medal count overall. As it should be.
Canada swept gold in hockey and curling. As it should be.
The Dutch dominated long track speed skating. You can see where I'm going with this.
We saw moments of brilliance from athletes that became household names. Julia Lipnitskaia, Noriaki Kasai, Tina Maze, the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Mikaela Shiffrin, Kristers Gudlevskis -- the list goes on.
Doors were broken by bobsledders, snowboarders rescued dogs and Bob Costas infected the entire NBC staff in Sochi with a special blend of eye mucus and condescending banter.
Davis and White bested Virtue and Moir, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won his eighth Olympic gold medal and Yuna Kim was robbed.
The legacy of Sarah Burke was remembered, a noble act by a Canadian speedskater was hailed and don't drink the water in Sochi. Never drink the water.
The travelling band of corrupt officials and disgraced judges known as the IOC now head to Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018, where we'll hear about Soju, Kimchi and K-Pop. Hopefully at least, the last thing we need is more stories about crappy hotels. We've all stayed at a Days Inn.
What will happen to Sochi now that the Games are done? The CBC's Nahlah Ayed spoke to Alexander Koropov, who had his life turned upside down when the Olympics were awarded to Sochi in 2007.
The village of Ashtyr wasn't of concern for the IOC, or the broadcasters or the Russian authorities. 120 people? That's nothing.
Illegal dumping, hastily built power lines and damaged water wells forced residents of Ashtyr to adapt. They had little choice. The infrastructure needed for the games made life nearly untenable.
"No one speaks about the dark side of the Olympics,” Koropov said.
“Only the positive side: How it is beautiful near the sea, and well, it’s true. But just look here. I am twenty metres from the highway.”
The Olympics summed up in a nutshell. Beauty and the beast.