The opening ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympics began at the Fisht stadium in Sochi on Friday, February 7, at 8:14 pm Moscow Time.

The opening ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympics began at the Fisht stadium in Sochi on Friday, February 7, at 8:14 pm Moscow Time.

The Sochi Olympics will be record-breaking in several respects. Taking part in the Sochi Games will be athletes from 88 countries, six countries more than four years ago in Vancouver in 2010. A total of 98 sets of medals will be contested, 12 sets more than in Vancouver.

A host of political heavyweights will attend the ceremony including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who is facing a protest uprising at home.

The 40,000-capacity Fisht Stadium was a carnival of lights and fireworks ahead of President Vladimir Putin arriving to officially open the $50 billion Olympics which run until February 23.