Deutsche Welle, 16 March 2014
The Sochi
Paralympics have ended in Russia, with the host nation's athletes topping the
medals table. President Vladimir Putin thanked sporting officials for not
making an issue of developments in nearby Ukraine.
Russia
staged the closing ceremony of the Sochi Paralympics on Sunday, with the hosts
taking top spot on the medal table with 30 golds.
They
finished well ahead of Germany, who had nine first-place finishes, while Canada
took third, with seven golds.
"The
games have been absolutely mind-blowing in terms of their impact, far beyond
what the Paralympic Movement expected when coming here," International
Paralympic Committee President Sir Philip Craven said. "They have been a
spectacular showcase of sport and the power of the human spirit," he
added.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin attended the ceremony at the Fisht Stadium, where a
choreographed routine of dancers in wheelchairs formed part of the spectacle.
The event took place on the same day as a controversial referendum on the Black
Sea peninsula of Crimea about whether the country should secede from Ukraine
and join Russia.
Although
concerns about alleged Russian intervention in Crimea have been voiced, the
Ukrainian team remained in Sochi for the duration of the competition.
Earlier in
the day, Putin thanked sporting officials for "keeping the Paralympics
away from politics."
Ukrainian
Paralympic Committee President Valeriy Sushkevych said that he feared the team could be returning to a country on the brink of greater conflict after the
close of the games. He expressed a wish that Putin recognize "the danger
of what we call war."
Fourth
place on the table went to Ukraine, which finished with five gold medals.
The
ceremony brought to an end the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which
began on February 7.
rc/mkg (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.