Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games

Post date: Feb 08, 2018 3:12:22 AM

-by David Zhang and Elvin Li

South Korea will host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games this Friday, February 9th, 2018 and will end February 25th, 2018 in Pyeongchang (Korean: 평창군). Winter-related sports will be played across different venues including the Alpensia Ski Resort, Kwandong Hockey Center, Gangneung Ice Arena, etc. The Winter Olympics happens every 4 years. The Summer Olympics also happens every 4 years but 2 years after every other Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) asks countries to place bids on their country to be the hosting country. South Korea unanimously won the bid against Munich, Germany and Annecy, France. This will be the second Olympics hosted in South Korea after the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

“I’ll be rooting for Team USA!” - Minh Truong, 8th Grader

Countries from all around the world will be playing in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. The mascots of this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games is Soohorang (Korean: 수호랑), the White Tiger representing the Olympic Games, and Bandabi (Korean: 반다비), the Asiatic Black Bear representing the Paralympic Games. The motto for this Olympic Games is “Passion. Connected.” But what surprises most people is that North Korea will be participating in the Olympics, alongside South Korea’s women ice hockey team. Ever since this has been released to the public, people have been debating whether a unified Korean team can actually hold up due to the major differences both these countries have, including language. They speak different dialects of Korean. It is hard to think two countries with such different ideals can play with each other on the Olympics, but it’s only a matter of time.

Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium

Team USA will represent in sports for Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Figure Skating, and many more. Athletes such as Alex Deibold, who won a Bronze Medal in Sochi 2014, will be participating in different snowboarding events, Kelly Clark, a 4-time Olympian who won three halfpipe medals along with a gold at Salt Lake City 2002, has been on Team USA longer than some of her teammates have been alive is competing. Chloe Kim, who has won three X-Games, and who is Korean American is hoping to win a gold medal in her home country. The new Big Air event will be played after the Olympics end for the FIS Snowboarding World Championships. Confirmed reports have come in saying that the Big Air event will be played at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in the actual Olympics itself. Please watch the Winter Olympics starting February 9th, 2018. It will be a blast of a time for Team USA and every athlete in the Winter Games.