D-1: Games start with hopes for peace, unity
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North Korean athletes dance with “Soohorang,” a white tiger themed mascot for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, during a ceremony to celebrate their entry to the athletes’ village, Thursday. / Yonhap
S. Korea’s 1st Winter Olympics draws record number of athletes, builds peace on peninsula
By Yi Whan-woo
The PyeongChang Winter 2018 Olympics starts its 17-day run Friday, setting a series of records in Winter Games history ― 2,925 athletes, 90 participating countries and 102 events in 15 disciplines.
The quadrennial sporting event ― South Korea’s first Olympics in 30 years and also its first Winter Games ― is expected to help bring a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations.
For the first time since 2007, the two Koreas will march together under a “unification flag” before 35,000 spectators at the opening ceremony, as well as fielding a joint women’s ice hockey team.
“The Olympic spirit has brought two sides together that for too long were divided by mistrust and animosity. The Olympic spirit has brought real hope for a brighter future for everyone on the Korean Peninsula,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.
Bobsledder Won Yun-jong will carry the flag for the South Korean athlete delegation. It has been not decided who will bear the flag from the North Korean side.
President Moon Jae-in will attend the opening ceremony along with international VIPs.
Among them are U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy Han Zheng, Slovenia’s President Borut Pahor, Switzerland’s President Alain Berset, Slovakia’s President Andrej Kiska, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.
Other world leaders to join the PyeongChang Olympics include Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipila, Liechtenstein’s Prime Minister Adrian Hasler, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri, Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik, and Monaco’s Prince Albert II.
The competition will run until Feb. 25 under the slogan “Passion. Connected.”
The Winter Olympics mascot is Soohorang, a white tiger. White tigers have long been considered guardians in Korean history and culture, according to the organizing committee.
"Sooho,” meaning “protection” in Korean, symbolizes the protection offered to the athletes, spectators and other participants of the Games.
The opening ceremony is expected to feature K-pop performances as well as aspects of Korean history and modern culture.
The IOC added some new events for the 23rd Winter Olympics _ big air snowboarding, freestyle skiing, mass start speed skating and mixed doubles curling.
The 17-day competition will be followed by the Paralympic Winter Games, slated from March 9 to 18. The mascot for that is Bandabi, an Asiatic black bear.
At PyeongChang, South Korea will have its largest Winter Olympic team with 144 athletes in all 15 sports, topping 71 athletes who competed in six sports at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
The country is seeking to renew its Winter Olympics medals record by capturing eight gold, four silver and eight bronze and finishing fourth in the medal race.
The gold medal favorites are mostly from skating events, such as Lee Sang-hwa in women’s speed skating, the women’s short track speed skating team captained by Shim Suk-hee, and Lee Seung-hoon in men’s speed skating as well as Seo Yi-ra and Sin Da-woon in short track speed skating.
Male skeleton slider Yun Sung-bin is seen as a potential silver medalist, which would make him the first South Korean to win an Olympic medal in a winter event other than skating.
The PyeongChang Games will attract international stars as well.
They include U.S. alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin. Analysts say she has the potential to win four gold medals in slalom, giant slalom, super G and downhill.
Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer is expected to add to his incredible legacy in South Korea, where he is favorite to win both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter events.
For twelve countries _ Austria, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada and the U.S. _ this is their 23rd Winter Games since the event was inaugurated in 1924 in Chamonix, France, according to the organizing committee, Tuesday.
Six other countries _ Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore _ will make their Winter Olympics debuts.
Meanwhile, some weather forecasters say the PyeongChang Games may be the coldest since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
The1994 Games were among the coldest on record.
At a rehearsal for the opening ceremony Feb. 3, the temperature in PyeongChang was minus 13 degrees Celsius with the wind chill factor making it feel like minus 21 degrees.