US fears over Korea Games

thE disarray over next year’s Winter Olympics deepened yesterday with doubts about whether the uSa would compete in Pyeongchang as regional tensions escalate. nikki haley, uS ambassador to the united nations, admitted there is still an ‘open question’ over her nation’s participation in South Korea in February, following last week’s ballistic missile test by north Korea. the Games will be staged just 50 miles from the Korean border and haley told

Fox News: ‘there is an open question, but it’s always about how do we protect the uS citizens in the area? ‘So those are conversations that are happening daily. ‘What we will do is make sure we’re taking every precaution possible to make sure they’re safe and to make sure we know everything that’s going on.’ a uS Olympic Committee statement later insisted the possibility of not competing had not been discussed. British team bosses admitted in October that they have regular talks with their uS counterparts and an evacuation plan is in place if needed. the Games build-up was hit earlier this week by the news that the Russia team will be banned over the state-sponsored doping scandal. Poor ticket sales have also rocked the organisers. Larry nassar, the former doctor to the uSa Olympic gymnastics team who was accused of sexually assaulting gymnasts, was yesterday jailed for 60 years on child pornography charges.