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2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games February 9th to 25th.

hockeyfan1

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Friday night, the town of PyeongChang, South Korea, a community of 40,000+ residents, welcomed the world to the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at newly-built PyeongChang Stadium.

It was a ceremony that could be termed 'simplistic' yet hi-tech, complete with pyrotechnics that stunned, fire-dancers that twirled,  etc,. lots of choreography interspersed with hi-tech effects that awed and stunned viewers and audiences alike.  It certainly was a testimonial to the small-budget type of ceremony that carried not a dull moment with it's trimmed and admirable presentation.

Of course, there was the usual Parade of Nations, a throng that would never seem to end.  Not that it should, since every country was present, with the flag bearers proudly displaying their respective nations' flags.  Canada, whose athletes came in towards the ending of the parada of nations, had Scott Moir & Tessa Virtue as the official flag-bearers, and they were none the prouder, as Canada became the first country in Olympic history to have both a female and a male as flag-bearers at once.

Who can forget the Tongo's shirtless (and well-oiled) flag bearer, Pitas Taufatofua.  Yes, him again.  Something to get tongues wagging all right.  Kudos to him for braving the cold!

But the moment the entire stadium was waiting for was the last country -- the host nation -- to march, and there they were, the two Koreas marching under the 'Unification Flag'.  The IOC and the (South) Korean Unification Ministry agreed to commission and invite several North Korean athletes to cross the demarcation line and participate in these Olympic Games as a symbol of openness and dialogue.

Whether this strikes a chord with communist North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un remains to be seen, though several North Korean government delegates along with Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong,  were in attendance.  Strongman Jong Un and his obsession with nuclear ballistic missile testing and his desire  to annihilate the West (namely the United States) with his threats of war, has left the world (and particularly neighbouring Japan & South Korea) on the precipice of tension and uncertainty.  By no means should this gesture of 'unity' be seen as making any inroads into a truce or peace initiative.  What happens after all of this Olympic fanfare is over remains to be seen.

That said, there were violent protests in the streets in South Korea prior to the opening of the games where anti-North Korea protesters clashed with police, in disagreement with the North Korean invite.  Many do not want the Communist state's values to encroach or tinker with the democratic and diversified South Korean nation.  Many do not believe any of what has taken place nor what is to come (at these Olympics) will modify or soften strongman Jong Un's motives.

North Korea's athletes will be participating in only five sporting events -- one of them being the Women's Ice Hockey portion of these Olympiads.  The North and the South will play as one team, one 'unified' country.  It has been reported that Kim Jong Un's grandfather was a fan of the sport.  Yes, you read it right.

For many cynics, the Olympics, whether Summer or Winter versions, represent cynicism, cronyism, and most of all, hypocrisy at the highest level.  At the last Winter Olympics in
Sochi (Russia) in 2014,  Team Russia became embroiled in a doping scandal of great proportions amid allegations of  government-sanctioned state-wide doping.

Eventually forty-three Russian athletes were banned from participating in future Winter Games (such as these).  They appealed to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sports) and of those, the bans were reduced to twenty-eight.  From those twenty-eight, eleven appealed.  To make a long story short, so to speak, the IOC upheld the ban of only thirteen  and allowed the rest to participate.  In fact, Team Russia was officially banned from engaging in these PyeongChang Games but, Russian athletes could still be present under the title of "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR), with no official Russian flag nor anthem, neither of  the two displayed or to be played.  In other words, Russia's 169 Olympic athletes are unofficially participating but officially not representing Russia per se.  Strange but weird piece of decision-making by the grand poobahs that is the IOC.

This flies in the face of upholding sanctions and rules/ethics, much to the frustration and consternation of ex WADA chief Canadian Dick Pound, and British IOC member Adam Pegully.  What message it was supposed to send is anyone's guess, except for the fact that in theory, actually, in practicality, Russia is a participant.


For many in general, the Olympics, regardless of it's flaws and flouting of ethics regulations, etc., still represent the showcasing of the world's best in the faster, higher, stronger motto, no matter whether the idea of a level playing field is present or not.

If the PyeongChang Olympics are about unity, involvement, peace, and diversity, then these Opening Ceremonies resonated with that theme throughout, particularly with the singing of the Korean anthem by the Rainbow Children's Choir, a South Korean ensemble that prides itself on "multicultural diversity". 

All in all, PyeongChang's world wide welcome hasn't disappointed.  As the song stated, "...we are all one...'.  Beautiful, imaginative, and...hopeful.

"Let the Games Begin!" 

Hats off to you, South Korea!


http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/winter-olympics/pyeongchang-2018-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-a8203591.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/02/pyeongchang-opening-ceremony-olympics-2018/552902/
 
The Russian team not only gets to congregate as a team but can compete in team events and their fans can as wave the flag.

So the totality of the punishment for running a state sponsored doping program is limited to anthems and uniforms.

The IOC is a joke. Nationalism in sports is a plague.
 
Gold!

MrdGHJ.jpg


Figure Skating Team Event 
Scott Moir/Tessa Virtue, Eric Radford, Meagan Duhamel, Gabrielle Daleman, Patrick Chan.
 
Canada has so far won 7 medals in total:

Gold      - Figure Skating Team
            - Mikael Kingsbury            (Men's Moguls)
   
Silver    - Justice Dufour-LaPointe  (Women's Moguls)
            - Max Parrot                    (Men's Slopesttle)
            - Laurie Blouin                  (Women's Slopestyle)
            - Ted-Jan Bloemen            (Men's Slopestyle)

Bronze  - Mark McMorris                (Men's Slopestyle)


Source:  Narcity
 
Canada's Mikael Kingsbury became the winningest and most successful Men's Moguls champion in
winning gold in that event.

tecMNY.jpg


With Kingsbury's Gold medal win, Canada now becomes the only country to win Gold at three consecutive Winter Olympic Games (Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018).
 
Canada's Kim Boulin won Bronze in the Women's Short Track Speedskating event in the 500 metres.  She had placed fourth but was bumped up to third after a disqualification by a South Korean competitor.

Still, good enough for a medal!
 
Canada's Meaghan Duhamel & Eric Radford win Bronze in the Pairs Figure Skating event.

Story:
https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2018/02/14/canadians-duhamel-and-radford-add-pairs-bronze-to-team-gold.html
 
Canada's Alex Gough had earlier won the country's first Luge medal, a Bronze, in the Women's Luge event.

Now she can add more to her haul as Gough, Sam Ebney, Tristan Walker, and Justin Smith teamed up in the Luge Team Relay event (a mixed event) to win Silver.

Story:
https://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/canada-slides-silver-luge-team-relay.html
 
Gold!

9bwUOw.jpg


Canada's Samuel Girard win Gold in the Men's 1000 metres Short track Speedskating event.


https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2018/02/17/canadas-samuel-girard-wins-gold-medal-in-1000-metre-speedskating.html
 
Bronze!

b3qvFl.jpg


Quite the story for Canada's Kim Boutin in winning Beonze in the Women's 1500 metres Short track Speedskating evenr.
Amid "death threats", a determined Boutin kept prevailing, as she skated to her second Bronze of the Games.

Boutin had earlier won Bronze  in the 500 metres after a South Korean competitor was disqualified due to interference and enabling Boutin to nab third.

Story:
http://nationalpost.com/sports/olympics/canadian-short-track-speed-skater-kim-boutin-wins-bronze-in-1500-metres
 
It was a day of pride on the slopes as Canada's Alex Beaulieu Marchand, nicknamed ABM, placed third in the Men's Ski Slopestyle event coming away with a Bronze.

Story:
https://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/alex-beaulieu-marchand-soars-ski-slopestyle-bronze.html
 
Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock dialled in and gave the Homan-led Olympic Curling team -- Canada's Women's entry-- a  much-needed pep talk to bost confidence & morale.  At that point, the Women who were winless in three starts, routed the American entry 11-3.

It sure won't hurt to inherit some Babcock Olympic luck, he havimg coached the Men's Hockey squad to successive Golds (Vancouver 2010 & Sochi 2014).

Shortly after Canada's decisive 11-3 victory over the United States on Saturday ? its first win of the tournament ? the team received an unexpected phone call.

Just hours after his own team's 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock dialled Homan's team.

"We were just finishing up our team debrief meeting around midnight, and then Cheryl [Bernard, the team's alternate] came into the room with a phone call for Rachel, and it was Mike Babcock," team second Joanne Courtney wrote in a blog for Curling Canada.

It was a brief conversation, but he wanted to let the team know he had seen parts of their win against the Americans and to stay focused.

"We have so much respect for him as a coach, and he's such a great guy, and for him to be watching and thinking of us, it was really neat to hear his words and hear that he's pulling for us," Courtney wrote.

"He just reminded us to keep our heads down, working as hard as we can to get the results we want. It really helped motivate us for our game today against Switzerland."



https://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/mike-babcock-phone-call-boosts-resurgent-homan-team.html
 
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