South Korea Gains Spotlight with Winter Olympics 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea. This 23rd Winter Olympic Games begin in early February, meaning the Winter Olympics are right around the corner.
South Korea’s only Olympic host was the summer games in 1988, meaning this will be the first winter games for them. They will be having 13 venues this year. South Korea will also be rewarding a record number of 102 medals to athletes across 26 events. The gold medals weigh the most in history- at 586 grams stomping previous record holder, Salt Lake City, which was 567 grams. Overall, 259 sets of medals have been created for these games. Additional medals needed due to the expansion of Olympic events. The International Olympic Committee has added four new events for the Winter Games 2018. Athletes on the slopes will compete in big air snowboarding and freestyle skiing. Athletes on the ice will race during the new mass start speed skating and mixed doubles curling.
Russia will also be banned from the Winter Olympics for the very first time. In 2016, Russia was banned from the summer games in Rio. Russia was found guilty of illegal drug use to enhance their player’s performance. The International Olympic Committee removed Russia from the games. However, athletes from Russia can still receive special clearance to compete, but will not be representing Russia in the games. If cleared, athletes will compete as individuals, uniformed in plain clothes and will only be declared from Russia.
Additionally, the NHL's hockey players will not be hitting the ice this year. The National Hockey League’s competitive schedule has experienced potential conflicts with the Winter Olympic schedule. According to the National Hockey League, “All NHL players experience increased risk for injury during an Olympic year because of the compressed schedule that accompanies participation. That risk obviously grows for the players who take part in the tournament.” The NHL responded by banning any NHL Players from competing in the Olympics this year. Instead of utilizing professional players, rosters will be compromised of overseas U.S. teams and possibly college competitors.
However, even with all these firsts, the 2018 Winter Olympics tickets just are not selling. A big contributor to the low ticket sale can be blamed on the military tension with North Korea. North Korea is located just 60 miles North of Pyeongchang. Many Americans, and other countries, have raised concern about their safety during such a populated event. According to Time Magazine, foreign leaders have expressed concern over safety at the games, including France’s sports minister, who stated in September, that his country would be skipping the Olympics if security ‘cannot be assured.’
Every year a mascot represents the Olympic Games and the 2018 mascot is a white snow tiger named Soohorang. The tiger represents a "familiar figure in Korean folk tales as a symbol of trust, strength and protection," according to the South Korea Game’s website.
As the clock clicks down, you can have the pleasure of keeping up with all these firsts and cheer on our American competitors when the games start on February 9th.
