The Winter Olympics is seemingly living up to its billing, with some interesting stories emerging from the event that is being held in Sochi, Russia.
Here are some of the off-beat stories currently making headlines.
Brave start for men's curlers
Bagpipers - from Moscow - heralded the start of the men's curling competition at the Ice Cube Curling Centre yesterday.
Competitors were marched in to the tune of Scotland the Brave with venue producer Kelly Brown welcoming the time-honoured tradition.
"The march in sets the tone," she said. "We were fortunate to find our pipers in Russia."
The City Pipes is a Moscow-based combination of two self-taught bagpipers and two drummers.
They have been together for 18 months and have gained wide popularity by infusing British rock with bagpipes.
"For Sochi, we have prepared traditional Scottish marches, very powerful tunes of battle, but we hope to have a chance to play songs from Deep Purple and the Beatles, as well as traditional Russian songs at the Games," said lead piper Yevgeny Lapekin.
Band of brothers
Ice hockey brothers Florian and Matthias Iberer became rivals after joining different ice hockey clubs in Austria but they are roommates again at the Sochi Games.
"We couldn't choose," joked Matthias about who they would share with.
"They put us in a room together and we didn't complain. It's nice because we don't see each other that much.
"It's more fun sometimes to play against him, but it's also fun if you're on the same team and you can hang out with him every day, play together and win together," he added.
A woman's touch
Sweden's men's curlers are reigning world champions. Now they hope a woman's touch will be the key to winning the elusive Olympic crown.
Two-time Olympic champion Eva Lund, who won gold for Sweden in 2006 and 2010, is a coach of Niklas Edin's team and is the only female in the role in the men's competition.
"She brings a lot of experience and a lot of good energy into the team, so she's the perfect fit," said Swedish team member Viktor Kjaell.
Lund is not responsible for strategy but focuses on bringing positive energy to the rink, one of the favourites for gold.
"I think it was kind of brave," Lund said of her appointment.
"They wanted somebody with experience, but also a person with a lot of positive energy and power within. I can be the person bringing value, but not take a lead."
Lund's methods appear to work. Since she joined in early 2012 Edin and his team have won golds at both the 2012 European and 2013 world championships.
SOCHI-NAMPA/AFP