WINTER OLYMPICS IN NUMBERS

3

Mikaela Shiffrin’s goal is to do what no skier has ever done – win five gold medals. The young American probably won’t, but there’s a good chance she can win three, something skiers have done only three times. Shiffrin is favourite to defend the slalom title she won in Sochi, a top contender in the giant slalom and the favourite in the combined.

2

North Korean athletes who qualified for the Olympics on merit. Up to 22 will actually compete, cheered on by a highly choreographed group of singers and dancers, along with the sister of supreme leader Kim Jong Un.

13,500

The number of eggs Norway’s Olympic team will be sending back after a breakfast order went sunny side up. Norway thought it was ordering 1,500 eggs from a Korean distributor for the Games but a translation mistake caused 15,000 to be delivered instead.

50

Miles from the mountains of Pyeongchang to the North Korean border.

86

The number of workers ill with Norovirus a day before the opening ceremony. The figure is expected to rise, forcing organisers to bring in 900 military personnel to take the place of sick or exposed security workers.

4

If it’s a Winter Olympics there have to be new sports. There are four this time, including a mass start speedskating event featuring 24 skaters.

168

Russia is officially banned from the Olympics because of statesponsored doping at Sochi. But 168 Russians will compete under a neutral flag as “Olympic athletes from Russia” and 45 others could yet win last-minute appeals.