This was something highlighted this morning by IOC executive director Gilbert Felli when he described how the report card was "better than expected" at the halfway stage.

"We had concerns ourselves, we had concerns with people telling us that they knew what would happen, so we have been working hard," he said.

"We have an expression in French: nous sommes déçus en bien - we are disappointed in good.

"That means that things are going much better than you even expected, so for me the atmosphere is great."

"So here we are, the magic of the Games is playing and we have disappointed people because it works."

Crowds flock to the Olympic Park to enjoy both the sport and the beautiful weather ©Getty Images


Felli also praised the "fair" atmosphere created by Russian athletes and teams
because they "clap not only for the Russians, but they also applaud for all the success of all the athletes, and that's something that the athletes recognise and appreciate very much."

"I was so surprised the first day I went to a competition venue in slopestyle in Russia where they knew they had no chance to win a medal," he added.

"The medals were going to be won by the Americans, and you could see the Russians applauding and the kids there and the yelling and everything."

Another example of this, Felli added, was when Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won his record equalling 12th Olympic medal in the men's biathlon 10km sprint and the crowd chanted well done.

This praise has been echoed by a number of other IOC members and officials, who have highlighted the facilities, organisation and security as well as the sport, while the reactions of athletes and others attending the Games have also been overwhelmingly positive. 

Russian gold in the team figure skating has been among the highlights of the opening week ©Getty Images



The most significant indicator of the first week success was the posittive reaction to this morning's press briefing by the vast media contingent in Sochi.

Although their have been critical moments - such as in relation to the sentence handed out to environmental protester Yevgeny Vitishko yesterday - questions have generally focused on sport and success.

A primary focus of today's briefing, for example, was in anticipation to tomorrow's United States versus Russia ice hockey match. 

However, in relation to the question of whether these were the greatest Games ever, the IOC were reluctant to make a statement either way at this stage. 

"We cannot talk about that until the Games have finished," said Felli.