Combined Korean team loses, spirits high
GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA
>> The moment was too important to be overshadowed by a loss.
The Korean women’s hockey team, the first in Olympic history to combine players from North and South, was routed 8-0 by Switzerland on Saturday night in its debut game, outshot 52-8 in a matchup that could have been far worse if not for the goaltending of Shin So Jung.
The poor showing didn’t stop the sellout crowd from cheering throughout much of the game, the chants led often by North Korea’s famous cheering group, and it didn’t lessen the import of the event.
“I think a unified one is stronger than two divided ones ... If North and South Korea will send unified teams on sports and all other sectors, we’ll have good results,” North Korean player Jong Su Hyon said after the game.
Fans unfurled a large banner reading “We are one” after the game and then IOC President Thomas Bach and South Korean President Moon Jae-in joined the sister of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, for photos with the team.
The Korean team, guaranteed a berth in the Games as the host nation, is not expected to win a medal. But its debut against Switzerland, which won bronze in the 2014 Olympics, had historic significance and symbolized fledgling unity between the rivals split along the world’s most heavily fortified border.
The North initially had no athletes coming to the Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee allowed 22 as special entries. Twelve female hockey players joined the 23-person South Korean team.
The players have been the subject of intense scrutiny and the team was thrown together only two weeks ago, with limited time to practice. Two players, one South Korean and the other North Korean, appeared on the opening ceremony and climbed stairs together with the Olympic torch that they handed to Olympic champion figure skater Yuna Kim.
There was early criticism in South Korea that the new players would throw off team chemistry and cost South players time on the ice after working together for months to shine on the sport’s biggest stage. The team’s Canadian coach initially expressed frustration over a team assembled so close to the Olympics, but she has recently said she is happy with her new players.