Sochi Goes Social: 10 Must-See Viral Olympic Stories

From wardrobe malfunctions to busted bathroom doors, athletes, fans and journalists jumped on social media to share Sochi's most viral moments. Most had little to do with winners, losers or medal counts.

Take a look at some of the best social media stories from the 2014 Olympic Winter Games:

1. Journalists' complaints

The most-shared Winter Olympics story came from the Washington Post, according to NewsWhip.com, a site that tracks trending news. The Post's story about journalists live-tweeting their hotel horror stories attracted over 442,000 Facebook interactions (likes, shares and comments combined) and prompted a flurry of #SochiFail coverage all over the web, including the Twitter account @SochiProblems. Apparently, brown sink water and broken elevators ahead of a global event that cost the host country $51 billion really gets people talking. Jimmy Kimmel also jumped on the bandwagon, enlisting Olympic luger Kate Hansen for a hoax video showing a "wolf" wandering the athlete's Sochi hallway.

2. Door jam

U.S. bobsledder Johnny Quinn rocketed to Internet fame before the Games even started. After taking a shower at his hotel bathroom, Quinn found himself locked inside because of a jammed door. Alone, and with no phone to call for help, Quinn punched a hole through the door and climbed out. He then took to Twitter to post a photo of the hole-y act, which has been retweeted over 29,000 times. "With no phone to call for help, I used my bobsled push training to break out," Quinn tweeted. Later, he got stuck again, this time in an elevator, and had to pry the doors open. His reward: the hashtag #Quinning.

3. Ashley Wagner is not impressed

It's the face that launched a thousand memes. American ice skater Ashley Wagner, who was clearly unimpressed by the judges' score for her performance in the team short program, made a face and muttered a profane word that reflected her disgust and disappointment. Her reaction was caught on camera and the image spawned memes comparable to those inspired by McKayla Maroney's famous smirk at the London Games.

4. "Girls" just want to have Olympic fun

Speaking of memes...An anonymous Tumblr user — an admirer of HBO’s cult-favorite “Girls” — photoshopped images of lugers, figure skaters and ski jumpers, by swapping in the face of actress Zosia Mamet in character as Shoshi Shapiro. “Magic,” tweeted “Girls” creator Lena Dunham of the "Shoshi Games."

5. The Olympic ring that wasn't, but Russia still gets lucky

It didn't take long for online retailers to cash in on the now-famous Opening Ceremony gaffe, where a lonely snowflake failed to materialize into one of the five Olympic rings. Hours after the incident, T-shirts that featured four opened rings and a dinky snowflake started appearing online for purchase. The busted ring has also inspired its own share of Internet memes. Of course, those watching in Russia took in a flawless ceremony, courtesy of doctored footage. No one could dispute, though, the phenomenon that was the Russian Interior Ministry Police Choir's rendition of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky."

6. Dad the wingman

OMG! Brett West's suggestion for fans of his luger son Tucker caught the attention of single women all over the Internet. In a "Today" show interview, Tucker's dad played wingman, saying "To all the young ladies out there, Tucker is very single." He encouraged viewers to reach out on Facebook and said Tucker would respond to every message. The hashtag #TeamTucker proceeded to shower the Internet with sweet tweets from legions of adoring fans. The flattery will come in handy since West finished 22nd overall in the luge run.

7. Oshie mania

Hours after hockey hero T.J. Oshie helped Team USA beat Russia in an epic preliminary game, the St. Louis Blues center amassed an impressive 130,000 new Twitter followers. Even President Barack Obama chimed in, tweeting, "Congrats to T.J. Oshie and the U.S men's hockey team on a huge win!" Too bad the president's advice to "never stop believing in miracles" couldn't help the team make the finals.

8. Puppy — and wolf — love

American slopestyle skier Gus Kenworthy nabbed a silver medal then accolades for a heart of gold. The 22-year-old tweeted a series of photos flanked by puppies in Sochi, where local authorities were reportedly killing stray dogs to clear the streets ahead of the Games. But Kenworthy teamed up with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska to open shelters outside Sochi, and postponed his trip home to facilitate puppy adoption efforts. The photos were retweeted thousands of times, one of which came from Miley Cyrus, who became a fan after the Olympian's display of puppy charity. Another Sochi Olympics social media darling, luger Kate Hansen, teamed up with Jimmy Kimmel on an elaborate hoax to convince the world there was a wolf stalking her hallway.

9. The wardrobe malfunctions

Millions flocked to NBCOlympics.com to watch a clip of Russian speed skater Olga Graf unzipping her skating suit down to her belly button moments after she won a bronze medal. The Olympian had forgotten while trying to cool down that she had nothing on underneath. Besides winning Russia’s first medal of the Sochi Games, Graf also took the prize for first Sochi wardrobe malfunction. Next a Swedish slopestyle skier drew the world’s snickers when his baggy pants got the best of him — falling to his ankles during competition. Canadian bobsledder Christopher Spring owned his fashion faux pas. He coined the hashtag #powerbelly to describe how his suit exploded during a try-on session. But arguably the biggest clothing (or lack thereof) story of the Games was the brouhaha over a Lebanese skier’s topless photoshoot for an Austrian ski calendar three years before Sochi. After Lebanon’s Sports and Youth Minister ordered a probe into the photographs and the skier, Jacky Chamoun, apologized. Still, other Lebanese women rallied to Chamoun’s defense. Dozens reportedly stripped down in solidarity with her for a social media campaign called “I’m Not Naked” using the hashtag #StripForJackie.

10. Todd Lodwick’s amazing videobomb

NBC’s Randy Moss provided a serious update on U.S. Nordic combined skier Todd Lodwick’s injured shoulder — and had no idea the Olympian was standing behind him and making faces the whole time. Added bonus: once Moss ended the standup and realized he’d been videobombed, he smacked the skier on his hurt shoulder.

Get More on NBCOlympics.com:

Contact Us