As the Winter Olympics 2018 begins today in South Korea, we take a look at some of the talking points of the event:
1. Russia
Officially, Russia is banned from the event as a punishment for state-sponsored doping in Sochi 2014. However, 168 of its clean athletes are taking part in this one under the Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR) banner. This is going to be the most discussed topic over the next few days especially if “these athletes” start winning medals.
2. Unified Korean Ice Hockey Team
Yes, you heard it right!
3. Nigerian Bobsleigh Team
Now this one is straight from the movie Cool Runnings. Suen Adigun, who competed at the London Olympics 2012 as a hurdler, decided to build a wooden sled and started practicing in Houston, without snow. Now she and her teammates have a new sled as they become the first African bobsleigh team to compete at a Winter Olympics.
You may remember him as the half-naked athlete at the opening ceremony of Rio Olympics as he represented Tonga in taekwondo. Well, now he is back at the winter Olympics – as a cross country skier. Astonishingly he took up the sport in late 2016 and still managed to make it to the finale!
5. New Thrills
New exciting events have been added such as Big Air – competitors riding a snowboard down a steep slope and performing tricks. Speed skating has been revamped with a mass-start format with 24 athletes lining up for gold. Mixed curling has also been introduced.
Will we see a new name on top of the table at the end of the tournament? Only time will tell. The last two Winter Games have been won by the host nations but we all know how Russia won it, LOL 😛
