A Crying Bear and Broken Ring: Our Favorite Moments from the Closing Ceremonies

Feb. 23, 2014— -- After plenty of tears and cheers during the Winter Olympics, the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, came to an official close today. But not before Russian President Vladimir Putin finally cracked a smile.

While the opening ceremonies signaled a grand start to the games, the closing ceremonies were a bit more fun, with athletes dancing across the stadium and a lucky few did so with their hard-won medals in hand.

Although we've got a long four years to wait until Olympic skating, skiing and luging are back, the team behind the closing ceremony at least ended the games with what looked like the best party of the year.

We've picked a few moments from the closing ceremony that are going to make us miss Sochi.

Apparently if you want glory, try going into cross-country skiing. The medalists from two cross-country ski races received their medals while being cheered on by tens of thousands of fans during the Sochi closing ceremonies.

They even got to see Russian President Vladimir Putin in the audience for their medal ceremony.

Relive All the Memorable Moments from the Sochi Olympic Games

While all the athletes got a hearty cheer, the already loud stadium went crazy for the medalists of the men's competition, all of whom represented Russia. Not a bad way to end the games.

The Russian organizers also proved they had a sense of humor when they recreated the infamous "broken" ring from the opening ceremonies.

Hundreds of dancers took to the stadium floor to form four of the five Olympic rings. One group stayed stubbornly bunched together for a long moment.

When the final group of dancers spread out into ring form, the whole stadium cheered and maybe chuckled a bit.

We'll pretend it was that moment that finally made Putin crack a smile.

As with any Olympic ceremony, it's always fun to see the flags in action.

Especially when women in giant headdresses get to wave them.

Similar to their work in the opening ceremony, the Russian organizers put on an impressive spectacle for the final ceremony by highlighting their long history in ballet, literature and art.

Our favorite moment had to be a dance choreographed with dozens of pianos and dancers in scary white wigs.

Although it was Russia's show, South Korea got a moment to shine with a memorable musical number.

The Olympic Wrap-Up from Sochi

Since the next Winter Games are scheduled to be held in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea put together a musical number with three singers and a set complete with glowing dancers and trees.

It looked amazing.

One of the most impressive if slightly freaky moments happened when three huge animatronic versions of the Olympic mascots took over the stadium floor.

The official Sochi mascots -- the hare, leopard and bear -- towered over the actors on stage. And a few of the younger children even climbed on their feet for a ride.

Rather than just appearing for a moment to wave to the crowd the impressive animals got to end the show.

The bear even "blew out" the flame for the Olympic torch. And then as if realizing the games were over, the giant robotic bear shed a single tear before waving to the crowd one last time.

But, as soon as the Olympic torch went out, the Russians put on an Olympic-sized firework show.

For now the show's over, but it will all begin again in four years in South Korea.