But for a couple of hours, as Russian president Vladimir Putin watched on, the outside troubles were drowned out by a spectacularly loud, colourful and lighthearted ceremony that featured Jose Carreras and the return of the popular giant ice-cutter from the opening ceremony.

Russia ploughed billions of dollars into infrastructure and development of teams for both the Olympic Winter Games , which were held last month, and the Paralympics and the results showed.

The Games did have its issues, most notably the conditions for the alpine skiers at Rosa Khutor in the western Caucasus mountains, which caused a succession of crashes and led to  several emergency medical helicopter flights to hospital.

But they ran smoothly under highly visible military and security forces at a time when the Black Sea resort was susceptible to a number of threats.

At the opening ceremony, International Paralympic Committee president Phillip Craven mentioned Russia's history of prejudice towards people with disabilities when he referred to  the then Soviet Union's refusal to host the Paralympics in 1980.

He revisited the issue during the closing ceremony when he asked the crowd "how are your barrier-free minds feeling tonight?"

Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak maintained that "attitudes towards people with impairment have changed among Russian society".

"The Paralympic Games have become a catalyst for our efforts to create a barrier-free environment in Russia," he said. "The Games are over, but we promise that this important work will continue throughout the country."

On the snow it was Russia's Games. It won almost four times as many medals than any other country with a record 80 medals, which included 30 gold. Ironically, the Ukraine won the second-most overall medals with 25 medals (five golds).

Fourteen-year-old snowboard-cross rider Ben Tudhope, the youngest competitor  at the Games, carried the Australian flag into the Fisht Stadium. Tudhope, Australia's youngest-ever Paralympian, has been a sensation in Sochi with international networks jostling for time with the Sydney teenager, especially after his impressive ride on Friday when he came 10th in a 33-rider field.

Toby Kane, who will now head into retirement after three Paralympics, also had his moment in the spotlight when he and Dutch snowboard-cross gold medallist Bibian Mentel-Spee were presented with the award for best embodying the Paralympic spirit among the athletes of the Games.

The closing ceremony marked the end of a tough campaign for the Australian team. The team members were left shattered when national para-snowboarder Matt Robinson died after a competition crash in Spain last month. The respect and feeling that not only the Australian team but international riders had for the popular Robinson was shown before the start of the inaugural snowboard-cross, when competitors stood in solidarity around a sign that read 'We ride for Matty'.

The Australians will leave Sochi with a disappointing tally of two bronze medals, to Kane in the super-combined (standing) and Jess Gallagher in the giant slalom (vision impaired),  a tally that Australian Paralympic Committee chief executive Jason Hellwig had earlier described as the "bottom end" that was targeted in Sochi but the most satisfying he had experienced because of the hardship the team had gone through.

"We wanted to win between two and five [medals]," Hellwig said.

"We'd be lying if we didn't say we were disappointed. The one thing we wanted to achieve was a gold medal and we put ourselves into the position to do that and we didn't.

"That's disappointing. Two medals absolutely is a pass ... so we're really pleased with that but we're absolutely disappointed we didn't get the mission done to win that gold medal, but I tell you what, we are absolutely determined to get it done in four years' time."

"It hasn't been easy, we've come in under the most difficult of circumstances that I've ever seen a team  at a major Games."