"We have achieved everything that we wanted to achieve in the preparation and the organisation of the Olympics," Putin said during his annual news end-of-year conference at the Kremlin in Moscow."

Sochi 2014 was widely considered the most successful Winter Olympics since Lillehammer in 1994.

A mood of euphoria swept Russia as the country's athletes finished top of the medals table in both the Olympics and Paralympics. 

"We have achieved even more that we dreamed about - we won the Olympics and for this we heartily thank our Olympic and Paralympic athletes, who were the real heroes of the Games," said Putin. 

But the build-up to the Winter Olympics was overshadowed by international protests over Russia's controversial new anti-gay law, while the Paralympics coincided with the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.

But Putin claimed Russia's rivals - who he did not name - used it as an opportunity to try to undermine preparations for Sochi. 

"On any issue, no matter what we do, we always run into challenges, objections and opposition," he said.