VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Olympics have officially come to an end, with responsibility for the next Winter Games being handed over to the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi, which will host the 2014 edition.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge praised the Vancouver organizers for holding what he called "excellent and very friendly Games."
Speaking at the closing ceremony on February 28, Rogge also paid tribute to the Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21-year-old Georgian luger who was killed during a training run shortly before the February 12 opening ceremony in Vancouver.
Rogge said the Olympics will not forget the memory of Kumaritashvili, saying the Games had shared the grief of an Olympic dream cut short.
Vancouver officials later lowered the Olympic flag and presented it to Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov.
Earlier, Canada won its 14th gold medal in Vancouver when its men's ice hockey team defeated the United States 3-2 in overtime.
This is the most golds ever won by any country at a single Winter Games, besting the previous record of 13 golds that was jointly held by the Soviet Union and Norway.
With its silver medal in the hockey final, the United States won the overall contest in Vancouver by winning 37 medals -- the most ever by any country at a single Winter Games -- followed by Germany with 30 and Canada with 26.
compiled from agency reports