Concerns were raised late last year about the poor ticket sales, but by the end of the Sochi Paralympics in excess of 300,000 had been sold – 80,000 more than at the previous Games in Vancouver, Canada.
The Sochi Paralympics also set a television first with US network NBC broadcasting the first ever Paralympic event live in North America when it showed USA beat hosts Russia in the sledge hockey final.
Standards are rising across all of the sports and a record 45 nations took part in the Games this time around with Brazil, who will host the next Summer Games in 2014, Turkey and Kazakhstan all making their debut.
The downhill course in Rosa Khutor was criticised early in the Games as warm-weather wreaked havoc and there were also issues at the Laura Cross Country and Biathlon venue where some competitors in the women’s biathlon followed the wrong course.
However, most events’ progress was unaffected and fans were pleased to see accessibility greatly improved – with the addition of ramps for wheelchair users – following the end of the Olympics in February.