Yulia lipnitskaya sochi olympic performance

Day 1 of the Sochi Winter Olympics could hardly have been more welcome.

For the past week or more, the world has been obsessed by the Sochi Olympics without really thinking about the Sochi Olympics at all.

Would they be safe? Were they the plaything of a quasi-dictator? Should foreign heads of state attend the opening ceremonies? Was Sochi even ready for this moment?

On Saturday, the athletes reminded us why we care about this so much in the first place.

It was American Sage Kotsenburg, who, before last month, last won a snowboarding event when he was 11 years old, unveiling his "Holy Crail," a trick he had never tried before in his life – "never" – to win the first gold of the Sochi Games and the first Olympic gold in the history of slopestyle.

It was Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, whose last win is usually the last time he skied, winning his record-tying 12th Winter Olympic medal (a gold) i