Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SOCHI, Russia (AP) - After the Olympic speedskating competition ended, the party began at Adler Arena.
A few hundred volunteers took over the infield on Saturday night, posing for photos, dancing to loud music, and taking to the ice for a few spins around the oval.
Speedskaters from Russia and Kazakhstan doing practice laps skillfully weaved among the amateurs. One volunteer wearing skates and shorts pushed a wooden bench ridden by two women. Small children wearing shoes toddled carefully on the ice. Women wearing figure skates twirled in circles on the racing surface. Others skated backward. Some lay on the ice for pictures or did their best impersonations of a speedskater's bent over stance.
All the while workers began dismantling the equipment around the oval. The volunteers wound down the celebration with chants of "Spasibo," Russian for thank you.
_ By Beth Harris _ Twitter http://twitter.com/bethharrisap
___
Associated Press reporters are filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
