The Winter Olympics began yesterday with opening ceremonies in PyeongChang, South Korea. Last night several events were broadcasted including mixed doubles curling, Men’s figure skating short program, and downhill skiing trials.
Last night U.S. figure skater, 18-year old Nathan Chen competed in the Men’s short, finishing fourth overall. Nathan was extremely hyped-up going into the winter games, as the only undefeated men’s champion in the world. His performance last night was surprising, as he fell on his triple axle, turned one of his quadruple jumps into only a double jump, and then did not put a triple toe loop onto the end of his second quad. Nathan Chen was favored to win this event for the US and also was supposed to be the first person to land a quadruple flip, triple toe loop. Before the Olympics he achieved the record for being the first athlete in the world to land five quadruple jumps in his free skate program.
At the opening ceremonies last night, South Korea and North Korea walked under a unified flag. The two countries also have a combined Women’s Hockey team. Two members of this team, Chung Su-hyon from North Korea and Park Jong-ah from South Korea, carried the Olympic torch during the ceremony. The torch was lit by South Korean figure skater and former 2010 Olympic gold medalist, Yu Na Kim.
Russian athletes marched under the neutral Olympic flag; they will be competing for the “Olympic Athletes of Russia.” Russian athletes were not allowed to compete under their own flag this year as part of the country’s punishment for a state sponsored doping scandal a the 2014 Sochi Olympics and at earlier competitions.
PyeongChang, South Korea is an very poor area in Gangwon, South Korea, the nation’s most isolated and least developed province. PyeongChang has a population of only 43,000 and is located 80 miles from the capital of Seoul. It also shares a large boarder with North Korea. PyeongChang’s first bid to host the Olympics was in 2010. The city re-applied in 2014, and finally was accepted to host the 2018. In preparation for the Olympics the government has invested $13 billion in the region, creating new infrastructure such as a new bullet train and highway to expedite access to Seoul, as well as sporting facilities like ice rinks and ski slopes. It has been reported that after the Olympics, these facilities will be demolished.
The Winter Olympics includes events such as different skiing events, bobsled, curling, figure skating, biathlon, ice hockey, luge, speed skating, skeleton and snowboarding. The map above shows the most popular Winter Olympic events in every country. Hockey seems to dominate in countries with medal-winning hockey teams. The map shows that curling is also popular (probably more popular than one would expect) in many countries around the globe.
If you’re interested in watching this year’s Olympic action, you can find a schedule of events here.
Curious about more Olympics facts? Thrillist put together this handy graphic that tells you everything you would ever want to know…
