Associated Press - Sochi organizer:'We delivered what we promised'

German athlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle suspected of doping at Sochi Olympics | olympics | DW.DE | 21.02.2014

Associated Press - Blunders cost China bronze medal in men's curling

Associated Press - Canada finishes 1-2 in Olympic women's skicross

Associated Press - A different Olympics on TVs across the world

Sochi Scene is a daily dispatch from Associated Press reporters about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu   The American women's hockey team was 3:26 seconds away from its first Olympic gold medal since 1998. Then everything went wrong.

Canada’s skip Jennifer Jones celebrates after delivering the last rock to defeat Sweden in the women's curling gold medal game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Canada's skip Jennifer Jones celebrates after winning the women's curling gold medal game against Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) Canada's skip Jennifer Jones, center, celebrates with teammates Jill Officer, left, and Kaitlyn Lawes after winning the women's curling gold medal game against Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

8 Winter Olympics Demo Sports | Mental Floss

This year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia have added 12 new sports to the global competition, making the 22nd Winter Olympics the largest version of the event yet. But this isn't the first time the Olympics have attempted to introduce new competitions to the world. The event has long made both room and time to include “demonstration sports” during their run. These sports are played for promotional purposes and some eventually become official Olympic events. Most don't—but there are certainly some interesting entries here (including two that involve dogs). Sure, there are plenty of Olympic-level sports that the layman should not try at home, but few seem as primed for disaster as skijoring, a game that centers on being pulled by animals while on skis. Picture your goofy neighbor who likes to go skateboarding with his or her pup pulling them along. Then imagine that all happening on snow and ice. Skijoring involves one cross-country skier either being pulled by dogs (often from such go-get-'em breeds as Huskies, Malamutes, Samoyeds, and Inuit dogs) or one trick skier going over jumps and obstacles while being pulled by a single horse. Equestrian skijoring also includes cross-country style races, but most competitions involve the acrobatic elements. You can also skijor behind a snowmobile, but it's far less cute.

SOCHI, Russia -- Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Canadian women's hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser have been elected to the IOC. Bjorndalen and Wickenheiser were voted in by their peers Thursday for an eight-year term as representatives of the IOC athletes' commission. Bjorndalen has won two gold medals in Sochi to become the most decorated athlete in Winter Games history with 13 career medals, including eight gold.

SOCHI, Russia -- Almaty has most of the venues already in place to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and would spend only a fraction of what Russia invested in the Sochi Games, leaders of the bid from Kazakhstan said Thursday. Almaty, one of five candidates for 2022, is bidding for a second time after failing to make the cut for the 2014 Games, which went to Sochi. Almaty, the commercial capital of the oil-rich former Soviet republic in Central Asia, hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games and will stage the Winter University Games in 2017.

Arirang News :: PyeongChang 2018 taking spotlight at Sochi 2014

The spirit of the Olympics is alive and well in Sochi, but just a few minutes after entering Olympic Park… you can also get a sense of what the 2018 Winter Games will be like."The PyeongChang House sits just before the main competition venues at the Olympic Park. Athletes and sports fans can get a preview of what the Winter Olympics will look like at Korea’s alpine city - four years from now." From learning about Pyeongchang's location on the Korean peninsula… and experiencing Korean medicine to watching cultural performances every day, visitors can get a better idea of the host city and nation of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. The venue is especially popular among Russians who are curious about the city that will take the reins in four years. “I think it will be good Olympic Games and maybe even better than now. I hope I will be able to see the Games in Pyeongchang." And it’s not too early to think about Pyeongchang. Athletes who have already wrapped up their Games at Sochi are now setting their sights on Pyeongchang… and so are their families."We are parents of an athlete at these Games and I'm very impressed. Obviously they are quite ready for the Olympics, there's no question about that." After hitting the 100-thousand visitor mark on Sunday, PyeongChang House is rising as a must-see spot among Olympic fans. “Over 15-thousand visitors stop by at PyeongChang House a day, meaning one out of five people in Olympic Park drop by. They get surprisingly interested after viewing the exhibitions. More than 5-hundred Russians have already requested that they’d love to volunteer at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.” Visitor number 201,800 to the PyeongChang House -- 2018 with two zeroes on the end, will win a free flight to and from the Games, if the winner wants to volunteer at the 2018 Games. Song Ji-sun, Arirang News, Sochi. Reporter :

Gold medallist Poland's Zbigniew Brodka holds his national flag and celebrates after the men's 1,500-meter speedskating race at the Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in in Sochi, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) Silver medallist Koen Verweij of the Netherlands raises his hand when the race was declared a tie with gold medallist Poland's Zbigniew Brodka in the men's 1,500-meter speedskating race at the Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. Verweij later was later declared silver, losing by three thousandth of a second. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) Gold medallist Poland's Zbigniew Brodka, right, acknowledges the crowd as silver medallist Koen Verweij of the Netherlands stands beside him during the flower ceremony for the men's 1,500-meter speedskating race at the Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. Verweij lost the gold medal by three thousandth of a second. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin stand at the start of the Russian national anthem during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Friday, Feb. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Lionel Bonaventure, Pool) Russian President Vladimir Putin wears a Team USA pin while visiting USA House in the Olympic Village during the 2014 Winter Olympics on Friday, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Marianna Massey, USOC Pool) A skating fan, with the Russian and Japanese flags painted on her face, watches the men's 500-meter speedskating race at the Adler Arena Skating Center at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Slovenia forward Tomaz Razingar reacts after scoring a goal against Slovakia in the third period of a men's ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Slovakia forward Tomas Kopecky is checked by a trainer in the first period of a men's ice hockey game against Slovenia at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Team Slovenia celebrates a 3-1 win over Slovakia in a men's ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey )

From left to right, silver medallist Koen Verweij of the Netherlands, gold medallist Poland's Zbigniew Brodka and bronze medallist Canada's Denny Morrison stand on the podium during the flower ceremony for the men's 1,500-meter speedskating race at the Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. Verweij lost the gold medal by three thousandth of a second. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) Shani Davis of the U.S. leaves the arena after the men's 1,500-meter speedskating race at the Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in in Sochi, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/David Goldman) United States defenseman Cam Fowler, right, scores past Russia goalie Sergei Bobrovski, centre, as Russia forward Alexei Tereshenko, left, looks on during second period preliminary round hockey action at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

Lance Armstrong in Perry, Iowa, on July 23, 2013 The IOC will be overseeing almost 2,500 doping tests at these Winter Olympics, with a reduced emphasis on post-competition tests and more on pre-competition in a bid to catch potential offenders unawares. Meanwhile, greater use is being made of intelligence from various sources –- including governments –- to carry out target testing on suspect athletes.