17.02 Kozak: Faulty Olympic Ring Will Be Fixed for Closing Ceremony

SOCHI, February 17 (R-Sport) - The snowflake that failed to turn into one of the five Olympic rings at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games will be fixed in time for Sunday's closing show, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said Monday.

The February 7 ceremony at the Fisht Olympic stadium won widespread praise for its elegant and spectacular chronicling of modern Russian history. A glitch prevented a white shining snowflake from opening up into an Olympic ring,  which went viral on the internet and has since become the butt of several gags.

"We will correct this mistake at the closing ceremony," Kozak said.

Accompanying Kozak on a tour of the Sochi International Broadcast Center, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach made light of the malfunction, saying the Vancouver ceremony four years ago had similar, negligible issues.