(MENAFN- Kora) The host nation claimed 33 medals in total at the Olympic Games, 13 of them gold, and their Paralympians also rose to the occasion by winning 12 medals on day one with a string of magnificent performances
All of Russia's golds came in the biathlon, with Roman Petushkov claiming the 7.5km sitting title ahead of Ukraine's Maksym Yarovi and Japan's Kozo Kubo
Petushkov's triumph was quickly followed up by Alena Kaufman in the women's 6km standing after she beat compatriot Anna Milenina and Ukrainian Iulia Batenkova
Vladislav Lekomtcev then won the men's 7.5km standing race to continue the theme of home success, which was furthered by Mikhalina Lysova's gold in the women's 6km visually impaired event
Ukrainian athletes elected to compete in the Games despite the mounting political tension over Russia's occupation of the Crimean peninsula
And there was glory for Ukraine to celebrate in the men's 7.5km visually impaired biathlon, which saw Vitaliy Lukyanenko deny Russia's Nikolay Polukhin gold
Russia and Ukraine were forced to settle for silver and bronze rese in the women's 6km sitting event, though, as German Andrea Eskau overcame Svetlana Konovalova and Olena Iurkovska to claim the title
And there was more for Germany to cheer about when the Alpine Skiing programme got underway, with Anna Schaffelhuber earning victory in the women's downhill sitting race ahead of the American pair of Alana Nichols and Laurie Stephens
Markus Salcher took gold for Austria in a tightly contested men's downhill standing race, edging Russia's Alexey Bugaev to the crown by 0.06secs
Japan dominated the men's downhill sitting event, Akira Kano winning gold and Takeshi Suzuki securing bronze behind Canada's Josh Dueck
Marie Bochet earned France's first gold of the Games in the women's downhill standing, while Spain's Yon Santacana Maiztegui and Slovakia's Henrieta Farkasova won the respective men's and women's visually impaired downhill races
Canada won both of their opening round robin matches in the wheelchair curling, with Norway, Slovakia, Russia, China, Sweden and South Korea earning a victory apiece
Meanwhile in ice sledge hockey there were wins for Norway, Canada and United States
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