By Adam Malev
This year’s Winter Olympics will be in PyeongChang, South Korea. They will feature a
wide variety of exciting events including curling, figure skating, and ice hockey.
The Winter Olympics opening ceremony starts at 8 p.m. Korean Standard Time (6 a.m. Eastern
Standard Time) on February 9th . The Olympics will be watched by millions of people
worldwide. Americans will be able to view all the action on NBC, NBCSN, USA, and various
streaming sites such as NBCOlympics.com. Connected TVs will also be able to stream the
Olympics using various streaming services which include Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku,
Amazon Fire, Win10, or ComcastX1. The closing ceremonies will be on Sunday February 25.
This year’s Olympic Games will have political as well as athletic significance. North Korea has
requested to be a part of the Olympics and their request to compete in South Korea could be a
gateway for South Korea to talk with North Korea on easing international conflict-possibly even
using the Olympics as leverage to reduce the extent of the North’s nuclear testing (but don’t hold
your breath).
Additionally, the Russian Olympic team will receive punishment for violating doping rules
during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Since news of the doping scandal surfaced, Russia’s Olympic
teams have had 13 of their gold medals revoked. Russia’s Olympic Committee has been banned
from this year’s Games, as well. The lack of Russian participation in this year’s Olympics will
likely help other top competitors to win gold medals that the Russians were in strong competition
for.
The United States will be looking for Jessie Diggins to provide success in the cross-country
skiing event, with the reigning world champion joined by teammates Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie
Caldwell. Diggins is predicted to take the gold this year and bring glory to her team. The US
hockey team will be severely disadvantaged as the NHL has banned its players from competing
in the Winter Olympics this year. This ban will hinder the success of the US hockey team as well
as various other national teams whose foreign players compete in the NHL. In curling, the
Canadians are seeded the highest and are predicted to win gold. A new event will be introduced
to the Olympics this year: Big Air Snowboarding. Snowboarding has gained increasing
popularity in the Olympics as it has become one of the most exciting competitions to watch, as
daredevils often impress crowds and judges with dangerous stunts. Big Air Snowboarding has
been called the extreme version of slopestyle. In the new event, competitors will send themselves
down a ramp and attempt to perform the highest scoring individual trick possible. The ramp at
PyeongChang will have a maximum height of 49 meters and a maximum slope angle of 40
degrees making it the biggest air ramp the world has ever seen. Many slopestyle competitors will
look for another chance to medal by competing in the new event. This year’s mascot will be a
white tiger named Soohorang.
Hopefully, the US will finish with the most medals by the closing ceremonies. No matter the
outcome, the Winter Olympics will surely be a set of exciting events to watch.