INSIDE THE GAMES
Like snowflakes, no two Olympics are alike — here’s what awaits in South Korea
It’s Olympics time again, and soon some of the world’s best athletes will be schussing down the slopes, whirring through the air, zooming down the tracks and skating across the ice. This year, the Winter Games take place in South Korea for the first time, wrapping up Feb. 25. The opening ceremony starts at 6 a.m. Friday, Eastern time (CBC): Here’s what you need to know about the coming events:
WHERE IS PYEONGCHANG?
The host city of the Games is in the northeast part of South Korea, about 80 kilometres from the North Korean border. South Korea’s winter sports resorts are not as well established as ski hubs in Europe, North America and Japan, but the Games could change that.
WHY TWO SPELLINGS?
As part of an effort to avoid confusion with Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, the city 10 years ago added an “e” and capitalized a “c,” rendering itself PyeongChang, rather than Pyongchang. To confuse matters, while some Western news media companies have accepted the new spelling, others are sticking with the original.
THE TIME DIFFERENCE
The city is 14 hours ahead of Eastern Time. That means many big events will be quite late for Canadians: The men’s hockey final on Feb. 25 will finish at 4 p.m. Korean time, or about 2 a.m. in Toronto. Other events will be in prime time or a little after: Women’s figure skating on Feb. 23 ends about midnight Toronto time. The men’s downhill skiing on Feb.11 will run until about 9 p.m. to midnight in Toronto.
THE MASCOT
Soohorang, a white tiger. You will probably also see Bandabi, a black bear. He is the mascot of the Paralympics, which begin after the Winter Games.
ENOUGH SNOW?
There was concern before the 2014 Games in Sochi and the 2010 Games in Vancouver that there would not be enough snow, though in the end both Games went off successfully. But that should not be a problem this year; Pyeongchang gets heavy snowfalls. The average high temperature in February is about 1.1 C, and it drops to about -8 C at night.
ARE THEY READY?
At some recent Olympics, preparations went down to the very last minute. But the venues and hotels of Pyeongchang seem to be ready to go. One area of concern is ticket sales, which have been slow.
IS RUSSIA COMING?
Yes and no. After evidence emerged of systematic state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, there were calls to ban Russia from Pyeongchang. In the end, there was a compromise ruling. Russian athletes who have a doping-free background can participate. But they will not formally represent their country; they will be listed as “Olympic Athletes From Russia.” The Russian anthem will not be played, the Russian flag will not be displayed and Russian government officials will be barred from attending.
IS NORTH KOREA COMING?
North Korea has agreed to send a delegation of athletes, as well as a cheering squad and a performance-art troupe. It will be the first time North Korea has participated in the Winter Games in eight years.
DO ATHLETES GET PAID?
There is no prize money from the International Olympic Committee for winners. But many national federations give payments to athletes for winning medals. The Canadian Olympic Committee rewards its athletes with $20,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze.
MEANING OF THE RINGS
The five rings, of blue, yellow, black, green and red, date to1912 and were designed by the founder of the modern Games, Pierre de Coubertin. The colours were chosen so that every flag in the world would have at least one matching colour. The reason for the choice of five rings is murky: They may represent the five populated continents, or the five Olympic Games that had been staged at the time they were designed.
MEDAL MATTERS
Gold medals are made of silver and then gold-plated. The medals this time around are designed to look like the texture of tree trunks. The silver medals are almost entirely silver, and the bronze medals almost entirely bronze. Athletes often pose biting their medals, mostly because photographers urge them to. The gesture mimics people biting gold many years ago to determine if it was real: Real gold should be soft enough for teeth to mark.
NEW EVENTS?
Mixed doubles in curling, a 16-lap massstart race in speed skating, a team Alpine skiing event and “big air.”
WHAT IS BIG AIR?
It’s a snowboarding event in which athletes launch off a jump, gaining enormous altitude, and perform tricks, which are judged.
WHAT IS MASS START?
A longish speedskating event in which the whole field of about 25 races together, rather than two at a time.
WHAT’S MISSING?
The parallel slalom snowboarding events, in which two snowboarders raced head-to-head, were dropped.
WHO DECIDES?
The International Olympic Committee chooses which sports to include in the Games. The committee looks for sports with worldwide popularity and tries to give different regions a few sports that they can succeed in.
ARE THOSE LYRICS?
Yes, for the first time singles and pairs skaters at the Olympics may compete to music with lyrics, not just instrumentals. But not all of them will do so. Some of the top skaters will be sticking with triedand-true classical music and film scores.
PAIRS VS. ICE DANCING
In both events, one man and one woman compete as a team. Ice dancing is more restrictive, barring many of the more athletic aspects of pairs skating, including jumping for more than one revolution and spinning for more than three revolutions.
WHAT’S BIATHLON?
It’s a cross-country skiing race, with some rifle shooting thrown in. Skiers periodically stop to shoot at a target. If they miss, they get a penalty, generally having to ski a short penalty loop.