Fire and Ice

Which countries heated things up in Sochi—and which ones flamed out?

HOT: RUSSIA

There's no place like home: The hosts upped their 2010 output (15 medals) to a table-topping 33.

HOT: NETHERLANDS

The Dutch had four podium sweeps and 24 medals—all in speedskating.

HOT: SLOVENIA

Eight medals matched the country's previous winter total. (Slovenia first competed in 1992.)

HOT: FRANCE

Ninety years after they hosted the first Winter Games, the French had their best haul: 15 medals.

NOT: CANADA

The hockey sweepers came within one medal of the 26 they won in Vancouver in '10.

NOT: NORWAY

The Nordic skiing machine climbed from 23 medals in the last Games to 26, good for third overall.

NOT: SWEDEN

The Swedes won just two golds but still improved by four medals, to 15—including two in curling.

NOT: BELARUS

The hosts' neighbors won just six medals—but five of them were gold, the eighth-best total in Sochi.

NOT: CHINA

The emerging Summer stars are making a Winter push, but their medal total fell from 11 in '10 to nine.

NOT: U.S.A.

The Yanks fell from 37 medals to 28—but it was still their best for a non--North American Games.

NOT: SOUTH KOREA

Short-track woes caused the 2018 hosts to drop from 14 medals to a meager eight.

NOT: GERMANY

Achtung! The overall runners-up in Vancouver (30 medals) dropped to sixth (just 19).

SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE

Team Canada had a Molson beer refrigerator at its Olympic house that could only be opened by scanning a Canadian passport.

THEY SAID IT

"Then eat me alive right now."

Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, coach of Russia's hockey team—which failed to medal—after a reporter pointed out that his predecessor had been "eaten alive" following the team's poor showing in 2010. Asked about the upcoming world championships, Bilyaletdinov said, "There will be a different coach because I won't exist anymore, since you will have eaten me."

PHOTO

AL TIELEMANS/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (SHIPULIN)

RUSSIAN BIATHLETE Anton Shipulin

PHOTO

WANG LILI/XINHUA/LANDOV (LEE)

SOUTH KOREAN SHORT-TRACKER Ho-Suk Lee

PHOTO

MOLSON CANADIAN (BEER)

PHOTO

IMAGO/ZUMAPRESS.COM (BILYALETDINOV)

TWELVE PHOTOS