IOC president Thomas Bach has praised the attitude and performance of the Ukrainian athletes in Sochi as the country is embroiled in a political crisis.
Dozens of anti-government protesters have been killed in the capital Kiev in clashes with police.
Despite the situation in the Eastern European nation, only one Ukrainian athlete has pulled out of the 2014 Winter Games, while the quartet of Olena Pidhrushna, Juliya Dzhyma, Valj Seremenko and Vita Semerenko won gold in the women's biathlon.
"In this moment, mourning on the one hand, but knowing what really is going on in your country, seeing your capital burning, and feeling this responsibility, and then winning the gold medal, this really stands out for me," Bach told ESPN. "It was really an emotional moment."
Bogdana Matsotska, a 24-year-old Alpine skier, was the only Ukrainian athlete to pull out of the competition, but Bach said that he respected her decision to stay in Sochi.
"Imagine what the signal would have been to the world community and to the Ukrainian people if the Ukrainian team would have broken up," he said.
"That would have created the image of two Ukraines and would have made a political solution even more difficult, if not impossible."
Ukraine have won two medals in total at the Winter Olympics.
Kristian Johnson
