SOCHI SCENE: That opening ceremony bump

The Associated Press
One of the Olympic rings fails to open during a portion of the show where snowflakes were supposed to transition to rings during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Friday, Feb. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — The opening ceremony for the Sochi Games hit a bump when only four of the five Olympic Rings materialized in a wintry opening scene.

Five large, glowing snowflakes emerged from a whimsical opening meant to depict the four seasons. They floated to the top of Fisht arena and, one by one, started to morph into the rings. But only four joined together while the fifth remained a snowflake, apparently stuck behind the rest of them.

The five were supposed to join together and erupt in pyrotechnics to get the party started. Instead, they were eventually darkened and moved out of the arena, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin was introduced.

The unveiling of the rings is always one of the most iconic moments of an opening ceremony, and Putin has been determined to use the ceremony as an introduction of the new Russia to the world.

The broken snowflake isn't the first opening ceremony blunder in Olympic history, of course. Vancouver, Sydney and Seoul all had issues with the torch lighting.

— Jon Krawczynski — Twitter http://twitter.com/apkrawczynski

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Associated Press reporters will be filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/