The Olympics come around every two years, and in the two weeks that the athletes compete, the world comes together to watch in hopes that their country will take home the most medals. Here is a recap of some of the events that happened in Pyeongchang, South Korea over the last 17 days.
If you watched the opening ceremony, then you probably saw that North Korea and South Korea walked in the ‘Parade of Nations’ as one country. Even though North Korea and South Korea have been represented as one in three prior Olympic Games, this one was especially symbolic because South Korea was the host country. Not only that, but North and South Korea joined together to make a single women’s hockey team, which was a first for both countries and the Olympics.
Did you notice when the Russian athletes walked in they were represented as OAR, or Olympic Athlete from Russia? This was because of the doping scandal from the 2014 Olympics. The 169 Russian athletes who participated in this year’s Olympics were elected from a pool of 389 Russians who were cleared by a panel that examined whether or not they had any relation to the doping scandal.
Redemption
Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White both returned to this year’s Olympics after having a rough time in Sochi, Russia (2014). Lindsey Vonn has overcome many obstacles to get to this year’s Olympics, mainly dealing with ACL and knee injuries from a crash back in 2013. In Sochi, Russia, Shaun White was so close to winning Olympic gold, but during his halfpipe run, after falling twice, he ended up in fourth place. During his 2018 halfpipe run he successfully nailed his tricks and came out on top, finally winning his third gold medal!
The Olympics are a time when the world comes together in harmony and focuses on each individual country as a whole. From redemption to heartache, this year’s Olympics were definitely one to watch.