Sochi, Russia - The closing ceremony of the Sochi Games brought a flashy and tuneful end Sunday night to the most expensive Olympics in history. Salomon Shoes Clearance Sale . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. They opted for human rings this time, the last one opening several seconds after the first four on the floor of the stadium. It echoed the hijinks from Vancouvers closing ceremony four years ago, when a leg of the cauldron that failed to come up during the opening ceremony was finally raised into place. Sundays ceremony at Fisht Olympic Stadium included a handoff from Sochi to Pyeongchang, South Korea, host of the 2018 Winter Games. Near the end, the cauldron that was lit 16 days earlier by Russian Olympic greats Vladislav Tretiak and Irina Rodnina was extinguished after one of the games mascots, an animatronic bear, blew out a flame in the center of the stadium, a single tear dripping from its left eye. Earlier, after a childrens choir conducted by Valery Gergiev sung the Russian national anthem, flag bearers for each country entered the stadium together rather than country by country like in the opening ceremony. The athletes who stuck around for the festivities also came in together, as is customary for the closing ceremony. American ice hockey forward Julie Chu, who competed in her fourth Olympics, carried the U.S. flag. "So proud to represent Team USA (and) our amazing athletes. Humbled," Chu tweeted as she waited to enter the stadium. Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, who won their second womens bobsled gold medal in a row, were co-flag bearers for Canada. Figure skater Maxim Trankov, a dual gold medalist in Sochi, carried Russias flag. Pop music played, but the ceremony also included a heavy dose of classical music and ballet like the opening ceremony, and a nod to Russian novelists and poets. All of it was done as temperatures hovered in the 40s, a cool close to the so- called Spring Olympics, where the weather was famously mild, with temperatures even climbing into the 60s on some days. That led to some strange scenes, including cross country skiers cutting the sleeves off their uniforms and American skier Julia Mancuso filming a surfing video for NBC on the Black Sea. There was a serious side to the warmer weather, of course, which wreaked havoc on some courses for the snow events. Snowboarders complained about slushy conditions on the halfpipe and the New York Times detailed a clandestine operation by organizers to purchase more salt needed to keep some courses properly iced. Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen set the all-time Winter Olympics record during the games by winning his 12th and 13th medals, both golds. But Russia led the overall medal count with 33, including 13 gold medals to fall one short of the Winter Games record of 14 set by Canada four years ago at the Vancouver Olympics. The U.S. finished second with 28 medals, nine fewer than the Winter Games record 37 they captured in Vancouver. Norway was third overall with 26 medals and Canada won 25, including 10 gold -- the last secured by the mens hockey team on Sunday in a win over Sweden. The Russian anthem played for the last time at the closing ceremony during the medal ceremony for the mens 50-kilometer cross country race. Alexander Legkov led a Russian medal sweep of that event Sunday morning. Sochi organizing committee head Dmitry Chernyshenko called the games "a great moment in our history ... a moment that will never be forgotten." "This is the new face of Russia, our Russia," he said. "And for us, these games are the best ever." Russian President Vladimir Putins $51 billion Olympics were the subject of snickers early on when media and athletes arrived to find some accommodations lacking. Journalists relayed stories of unfinished rooms, broken door handles, missing shower curtains and even stray dogs in their media villages. One was told not to use the water in her bathroom, which was said to contain a dangerous chemical. U.S. bobsledder Johnny Quinn became an Internet sensation after tweeting a picture of his bathroom door, which he had broken through after becoming locked inside. The Twitter account SochiProblems had more than 330,000 followers by the time of Sundays closing ceremony, but the criticism so prevalent in the first days died down, giving way to wide praise of Sochis venues. IOC President Thomas Bach, presiding over his first games, said the athletes left a legacy of "peace, tolerance and respect" and urged, as IOC heads often do, that countries around the world follow the example. Bach thanked Putin for what he said was the Russian presidents "personal commitment to the extraordinary success" of the games. "We leave as friends of the Russian people," said Bach. News broke during the opening ceremony that a plane had been diverted to an airport in Turkey after a passenger on board allegedly issued a bomb threat and tried to have the aircraft redirected to Sochi. The incident further raised fears that Russias first Olympics in 34 years could be the target of a terrorist attack, but the games passed without any such incident. The host country faced criticism in the run-up to the games after passing laws last year aimed at keeping gay "propaganda" away from children, and officials remained adamant throughout that political protests should be kept away from Olympic venues. In the highest-profile incident of its kind, two members of the punk band Pussy Riot were among several people detained for several hours as they planned to film a protest video in Sochi. They set up a day later to film again, but were interrupted by Cossacks who attacked them with whips. The games went without a positive doping test until the final weekend, when there were six. In the last case, Swedish hockey star Nicklas Backstrom was scratched from the gold medal game Sunday after testing positive for a banned substance found in allergy medication his NHL team said he has been taking for seven years to combat severe allergies. The Washington Capitals said the medication was approved by the Swedish national team. Wholesale Salomon Shoes . The stakes were higher, the competition more fierce and the atmosphere was that of a playoff game - something the young, upstart Raptors have five weeks to better prepare themselves for or the result will be eerily similar. Salomon Shoes Outlet Store .Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times. http://www.wholesalesalomon.com/ . Bayern led second-place Leverkusen by 10 points with a game in hand, while Dortmund was another four points off the pace. Freiburg midfielder Felix Klaus scored in the last minute as his side twice came from behind to climb provisionally out of the relegation zone.SAN FRANCISCO -- Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly entered the eighth inning planning to take out Clayton Kershaw after the first batter. The left-hander retired Joe Panik on one pitch, and as Mattingly walked to the mound, he noticed Kershaw shaking his head and waving him back to the dugout. "At that point, who am I to stop him?" Mattingly said. Right now, seemingly nobody can. Kershaw struck out Buster Posey on three wicked sliders before getting Hunter Pence to fly out, and was done for real. Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth to seal Kershaws major league-leading 19th win, and the Dodgers moved three games ahead of San Francisco in the NL West with a 4-2 victory over the Giants on Sunday. "Its obviously a huge series for us, and the way we did it is pretty cool," Kershaw said. Los Angeles leaned on its ace for the rubber game of a series that had been as topsy-turvy as any the NL West rivals have ever played. The Dodgers won 17-0 on Saturday after losing 9-0 to the Giants on Friday. Kershaw (19-3) boosted his credentials for the NL MVP and a third Cy Young Award with another big performance in a big start. The left-hander allowed seven hits, struck out nine and walked one in eight innings. He lowered his majors-best ERA to 1.70, and put the Dodgers in command of the division. "We kind of call him the big train, because he just keeps coming," Mattingly said. Matt Kemp hit his 20th homer, and Juan Uribe and A.J. Ellis each drove in a run to back Kershaws latest gem. Buster Posey and pinch-hitter Matt Duffy had RBI singles for San Francisco. The Dodgers and Giants have split 16 games this season. They have three games left against each other at Dodger Stadium next week, but San Francisco might be left trying to hold onto a wild card spot by then. The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the second when the Giants committed two throwing errors trying to nab a hustling Hanley Ramirez on the bases after Uribe singled, then Ellis had a sacrifice fly. The Giants cracked Kershaw in the third, though they wasted the opportunity. Cheap Salomon Shoes. Posey singled home Petit before getting thrown out by centre fielder Yasiel Puig going for second, stranding Panik on third. "When you make a couple of mistakes and have a guy like Kershaw on the mound, it comes back to hurt you," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. San Francisco seemed to be regaining the momentum behind Petit (5-4) and the announced sellout crowd of 41,932, but Kemp ended that with one swing in the sixth. His two-run homer to left-centre put the Dodgers up 4-1, touching off another bubble-filled celebration in the visiting dugout at AT&T Park. Petit gave up four runs -- three earned -- and eight hits in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked none. Kershaw was thrown out at second by right fielder Hunter Pence trying to stretch a single into a double in the seventh. In the bottom half, Duffys bloop single sliced Los Angeles lead to 4-2. But Kershaw quickly squashed San Franciscos rally. He has gone at least eight innings in seven straight starts -- perhaps none bigger than his latest. "The way he finished," Ellis said, "kind of speaks a lot to his character and his will to win and his will to compete." DODGER COLLISION Dodgers 2B Dee Gordon and Puig got tangled up going for Duffys bloop in shallow centre field, but both stayed in the game. Mattingly said Puig collided with one of Gordons knees, which is just a little sore. TRAINERS ROOM Dodgers: RHP Carlos Frias (0-0, 3.91 ERA) will likely make his second career start Wednesday at Colorado in place of Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is scheduled to have an MRI on his troublesome left shoulder Monday. Giants: 1B Brandon Belt (concussion) will face pitchers before Mondays game at Arizona and will likely be activated Tuesday or Wednesday. UP NEXT Dodgers: RHP Roberto Hernandez (8-11, 4.04 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series at Colorado on Monday. 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