--- description: In the closing ceremonies, things come full circle title: Sochi 2014 Closing Ceremony: Russia Mocks Failed Fifth Olympic Ring image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1cb9084b879b997/698682fccd804dfcc0cc9717/olympic-ring-malfunction-sochi.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [olympics](/tag/olympics/) ## olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Russia Pokes Fun At Itself By Recreating Olympic Rings Malfunction by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 23, 2014 6:04 PM CUT  Performers recreate the fifth Olympic ring that didn't open in the opening ceremony during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Performers recreate the fifth Olympic ring that didn't open in the opening ceremony during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.David J. Phillip—AP by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 23, 2014 6:04 PM CUT Remember that (kind of hilarious) [malfunction](http://world.time.com/2014/02/07/russian-tv-olympics-opening-ceremony-fake-video-ring-malfunction/ "undefined")during the Sochi opening ceremonies when five giant snowflakes transformed into an incomplete set of glowing Olympic rings? Well, the Russians remember it too, and at Sunday’s closing ceremonies, decided to poke fun at themselves for the technical flub. Following a choreographed routine, performers sporting some exceptionally sparkly get-ups moved into formation to create a giant set of Olympic rings — but deliberately left one ring as a small, disconnected circle. This, of course, was a winking nod to that original fail: Paul Drinkwater / NBC / Getty Images Good job, Russia, for proving you’ve got a sense of humor. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/9287/russia-pokes-fun-at-itself-by-recreating-olympic-rings-malfunction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/9287/russia-pokes-fun-at-itself-by-recreating-olympic-rings-malfunction/"},"headline":"Russia Pokes Fun At Itself By Recreating Olympic Rings Malfunction","datePublished":"2014-02-23T18:04:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:38.181Z","description":"In the closing ceremonies, things come full circle","url":"https://time.com/9287/russia-pokes-fun-at-itself-by-recreating-olympic-rings-malfunction/","keywords":["olympics","Winter Olympics","Sochi"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1cb9084b879b997/698682fccd804dfcc0cc9717/olympic-ring-malfunction-sochi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1cb9084b879b997/698682fccd804dfcc0cc9717/olympic-ring-malfunction-sochi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Performers recreate the fifth Olympic ring that didn't open in the opening ceremony during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.","caption":"Performers recreate the fifth Olympic ring that didn't open in the opening ceremony during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.","creditText":"David J. Phillip—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/9287/russia-pokes-fun-at-itself-by-recreating-olympic-rings-malfunction/","name":"Russia Pokes Fun At Itself By Recreating Olympic Rings Malfunction"}}]}] ```