SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared the Winter Olympics open.

At the opening ceremonies in the Russian city of Sochi, Putin looked on from his box high above the stadium floor as athletes walked onto a satellite image of the earth, projected onto the floor. The map shifted so that the athletes emerged from their own country.

A raucous group of Russian athletes marched into the rollicking ceremony with a message to their rivals, singing: you're "not gonna get us."

The honor of lighting the cauldron that will burn throughout the games went to Russian who's regarded as one of the greatest goaltenders of all time, Vladislav Tretiak, and figure skater Irina Rodnina, who won three straight Olympic pairs titles.

The show opened with a hiccup, when only four of the five Olympic rings materialized. Five large, glowing snowflakes were supposed to morph into the rings, but only four of them joined together while the fifth remained a snowflake. And they failed to erupt into white flames as planned.

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