In cold SoKor mountains, Winter Olympics begins

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – The world starts watching now. At least, when it comes to sports.

After two failed bids, billions of dollars in preparation and a nagging national debate about whether it’s all worth it, the Winter Olympics open Friday in Pyeongchang with a gala ceremony meant to showcase South Korea’s rise from poverty and war into one of Asia’s most modern nations.

The isolated, rugged mountain town of Pyeongchang, one of the poorest, coldest and most disgruntled parts of an otherwise prosperous South Korea, will be a global player for two weeks of winter sports, Olympic spectacle and, just maybe, a bit of interKorean reconciliation.

There will be plenty of sporting drama for both diehard snow and ice junkies and the once-everyfour-years enthusiasts.

Will the Russians who aren’t Russians – the 168 who have been invited as “Olympic Athletes from Russia,” competing in neutral uniforms under the Olympic flag – bring home gold? Will Patrick Chan of Canada hit his quad jumps and claim figure skating glory?

Can reigning men’s gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan overcome injury and defend his title against Chan? Will the past and present star of American skiing, Lindsey Vonn, be surpassed by the likely future of the sport, Mikaela Shiffrin?

But the athletic aspect of these games has been overshadowed in the buildup to the opening ceremony by a frenzied, increasingly momentous fire-hose spray of political developments. The rival Koreas, flirting with war just weeks ago, are suddenly making overtures toward the no-longer-quite-soabsurd notion of cooperation.