So yesterday this story began to circulate around the Internet.
The man responsible for operating the Olympic Rings during last night's Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Russia was found dead today. According to local reports the body of T. Borris Avdeyev was found his hotel room early this morning with multiple stab wounds. Avdeyev was a technical specialist responsible for the Olympic Ring spectacle, which embarrassingly malfunctioned last night. Five animatronic snowflakes were supposed to transform into Olympic Rings. The first four functioned properly but the fifth snowflake failed to change shape. Although his body was badly mangled and the wounds were consistent with a struggle, so far officials say they don't suspect foul play.
It wasn't true.
While the mishap was undoubtedly embarrassing, those sharing the story (over 16,000 times on Facebook and Twitter thus far), hadn't spotted that it originated on The Daily Currant — which is a satirical news site.
It's previously fooled social media users with this story, among others.
In actual fact, the statements from the show's producers after the incident were rather laid back.
The ceremony's producer, Konstantin Ernst (a close friend of Vladimir Putin), told the media: "It would be ridiculous to focus on this ring that never opened, it would be simply silly."
The fifth snowflake did appear on some TV feeds. Ernst said producers had known several seconds in advance the ring would not pop up, and so the Russian channel broadcast pre-shot footage from the rehearsal instead. He said there was no need to make a "sensation" out of it.