The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games were a stunning success, exceeding all expectations.

In a Games of many highlights, one of the best was the vocal crowds and packed venues that became a trademark of Sochi 2014. A record 316,200 tickets were sold, a figure that was almost 40 per cent higher than had been achieved at Vancouver 2010. The Games were also the most watched in history, attracting a cumulative TV audience of 2.1 billion people. Three National Paralympic Committees made their Paralympic Winter Games debuts.

Traditionally, Russian spectators only cheer their own athletes. But they were quickly infected by the Paralympic Spirit, supporting and celebrating the performances of every single athlete.

The biggest impact Sochi 2014 had was on the Russian government and Russian society.

In 1980 the former USSR declined the opportunity to stage the Paralympics because they said the country had nobody with an impairment. Thirty years on, and the attitude could not have been more different.

The driver behind this change was the Games.

Sochi's election as host city in 2007 led – for the first time – to Russian authorities and society paying attention to the issue of inclusion, and creating accessible environments for all.

New legislation was passed at the highest levels of Government, and the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee created a barrier-free infrastructure, ensuring that everything built for the Games was accessible for all.

According to Russia's Deputy Prime Minster Dmitry Kozak, "they showed what people from different countries and nationalities, different cultures and traditions are capable of when they are united by a single goal and an inspired dream."

Sochi became a blueprint for the rest of Russia, with 200 cities already using what was created for the Games as a guide for furthering their own accessibility, permanently improving and enriching the lives of millions of Russians.

Results

Russia topped the medals table by a significant margin. The host nation medalled in all sports and finished the Games with 30 golds, 28 silvers and 22 bronze medals. Germany and Canada finished second and third respectively.

Nineteen of the 45 competing countries won at least one medal with Great Britain winning its first ever Paralympic Winter Games gold medal.

The hosts topped the medals table in Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing.

Gold in Para ice hockey went to USA who defeated Russia in the final. Canada took bronze.

In wheelchair curling gold was won by Canada with silver and bronze going to Russia and Great Britain respectively.

#

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

1

RUS

30

28

22

2

GER

9

5

1

3

CAN

7

2

7

4

UKR

5

9

11

5

FRA

5

3

4

ATTENDANCE AND COVERAGE

Sochi 2014 was record-breaking in terms of ticket sales and media coverage for a Paralympic Winter Games, with 316,200 tickets sold, which was 86,200 more than Vancouver 2010.

The Games were the most watched in history. They were broadcast to a cumulative global TV audience of nearly 2.1 billion people on 125 channels in more than 55 countries and territories, with broadcasters showing more hours of coverage than previous editions of the Games.

In the host country of the Games, broadcasters VGTRK, RBC TV and ANO Sports Broadcasting showed 180 hours of coverage. NBC showcased Paralympic coverage for the first time in the USA, while Channel 4 (Great Britain), EBU (Europe) and NHK (Japan) also had unprecedented coverage for a Winter Games.

The Games were also shown on Attitude Pictures (New Zealand), KBS (South Korea), CCTV (China) and America Movil in the Americas.

Through working with the National Paralympic Committees of Australia, Brazil, Canada and South Africa, the Winter Games were also shown on ABC, Globo's Sportv, and CBC/Radio Canada and SuperSport, respectively.

The Samsung Paralympic Bloggers project was carried out for the second time by the IPC and Samsung, with 30 of the world's leading winter athletes providing over 100 behind-the-scenes video blogs that received more than 50,000 views.

The IPC's online channels experienced tremendous growth, as www.Paralympic.org, showed more than 300 hours of live coverage and tripled its average monthly traffic. On its YouTube channel, the IPC recorded nearly 2.5 million views, and its Facebook and Twitter pages both increased their following by about 13 per cent.

During Sochi 2014, there were over 73,000 tweets using the #Paralympics hashtag and 92,000 mentioning the word "Paralympics."

©AI Tielemans for OIS/IOC