SOCHI SCENE: Ho-hum gold game?
![SOCHI SCENE: Ho-hum gold game? SOCHI SCENE: Ho-hum gold game?](https://www.si.com/.image/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/MTY4MTk2NzM3NjUxODQ0OTkz/201402230641240957068-p5jpeg.jpg)
SOCHI, Russia (AP) Empty seats, relatively quiet crowd - the final gold medal competition of the Sochi Games feels more like a lazy Sunday warmup to the closing ceremony.
Not the atmosphere you'd expect for what's supposed to be the main event in a country known for its love of hockey.
Perhaps that's because Russia isn't playing, having lost to bronze-winners Finland in a quarterfinal. Gone from the Bolshoy Ice Dome, besides one half-hearted attempt through the first period, are the ''Ro-ssi-ya'' chants that have permeated games even the host country isn't in. A few Russia flags remain, dotted throughout the Canadian and Swedish symbols in the arena.
Many spectators who did come showed up late, and remained relatively polite even as Canada took a 1-0 lead during the first period.
And the loudest cheer of the first period? When arena officials announced Russia's gold-medal win in the four-man bobsled, its second gold of the day along with a podium sweep in men's 50 kilometer biathlon.
- By Oskar Garcia - Twitter http://twitter.com/oskargarcia
---
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