One of the best parts of this year's Olympics is that we can use all platforms of social media to connect with the athletes, and thanks to Instagram especially, we can see lots of personal accounts of what's going on in Sochi over the next couple of weeks.
It's really cool to see the opening ceremony from the perspective of an Olympian, or a selfie with a gold medal up close.
Here are some of our favorite selfies (and other photos) from Sochi, directly from the Instagram accounts of the competing athletes.
Gracie Gold, USA Figure Skating, takes this photo with teammate Maia Shibutani, right before the opening ceremony begins:
Sage Kotsenburg, USA Slopestyle, claimed the first gold medal at the Olympics this year. Here he is with British snowboarder Aimee Fuller, right before qualifications:
Ashley Wagner, USA Figure Skating, made a face that became the first official meme of the games. But here's a selfie she took with members of the USA Figure Skating team, ready to cheer each other on:
Mark McMorris, Canada Slopestyle, shows off his bronze medal:
Meryle Davis, USA Figure Skating, poses with her pairs partner of 17 years, Charlie White, in Team USA apparel:
Julia Mancuso, USA Alpine Ski Team, gives us an idea of what it looks like right before you take off from the start house:
19-year-old Justine Dufour-LaPointe, Canada Freestyle Skier, claimed gold this past weekend. Her sister Chloe won the silver medal in the same event!
This is pretty cool. Jamie Anderson, USA Slopestyle, won gold this past weekend. But this photo was taken during a practice run last week with a GoPro camera:
Nate Holland, USA Snowboarder, shows us all what it looks like to walk with your team during the opening ceremonies:
Aimee Fuller, British Snowboarder, fearlessly surveys the course ahead of her: