2018 Winter Olympics
The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as PyeongChang 2018, were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea, with the opening rounds for certain events held on 8 February, a day before the opening ceremony.
Pyeongchang was selected as the host city for the 2018 Winter Games at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa on 6 July 2011. This marked the second time that South Korea had hosted the Olympic Games, as well as the first time it hosted the Winter Olympics. The 2018 Games marked the third time that an Asian country had hosted the Winter Olympics, after Sapporo 1972 and Nagano 1998, both in Japan. It was also the first Winter Olympics held in mainland Asia, and the first of three consecutive Olympic Games held in East Asia, preceding the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in China.
The 2018 Games featured 102 events over 15 disciplines, a record number of events for the Winter Games. This is the first edition in Winter Olympic Games history to feature more than 100 medal events, four of which made their Olympic debut in 2018: "big air" snowboarding, mass start speed skating, mixed doubles curling, and mixed team alpine skiing. A total of 2,914 athletes from 93 teams competed, with the national debuts of Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore.
After a state-sponsored doping program was exposed following the 2014 Winter Olympics, the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended, but selected athletes were allowed to compete neutrally under the special IOC designation of "Olympic Athletes from Russia", provided they could meet certain anti-doping requirements. North Korea agreed to participate in the Games in spite of tense relations with South Korea. The two nations paraded together at the opening ceremony as a unified Korea, and fielded a unified team in the women's ice hockey.
Norway led the total medal tally with 39, followed by Germany at 31 and Canada at 29. Germany and Norway were tied for the highest number of gold medals, both winning 14. The hosts, South Korea, ranked seventh overall at the 2018 Winter Games, with five gold medals and 17 overall medals. South Korea has traditionally been a country that won many medals in short track speed skating, but in this competition, it also won medals in skeleton racing, curling and skiing. South Korea's Yun Sung-Bin won a gold medal in men's skeleton racing, the first Olympic gold ever won by Asia in the sledding event.
Bidding and election
was elected as the host city at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa, on 6 July 2011, earning the necessary majority of at least 48 votes in just one round of voting. Winning 63 of the 95 votes cast in the first secret ballot, Pyeongchang received more votes than its competitors combined, overwhelmingly beating Munich in Germany, which received 25 votes, and Annecy in France, which received seven.This was South Korea's third consecutive bid for the Winter Olympics, having been defeated by Vancouver and Sochi respectively in the final rounds of voting for the 2010 and 2014 Games. Earlier, PyeongChang lost to Vancouver with a difference of 3 votes in bidding the 2010 Olympics, and lost to Sochi with a difference of 4 votes in bidding the 2014 Olympics. Since then, South Korea made great progress in preparing to host the Winter Olympics and succeeded in hosting the 2018 Olympics after three challenges.
After winning the election, Pyeongchang became the third Asian city to host the Winter Olympics. Also, South Korea became the second country in Asia to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
| City | Nation | Votes |
| Pyeongchang | 63 | |
| Munich | 25 | |
| Annecy | 7 |
Development and preparation
On 5 August 2011, the International Olympic Committee announced the formation of the Pyeongchang 2018 Coordination Commission. On 4 October 2011, it was announced that the Organizing Committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics would be headed by Kim Jin-sun. The Pyeongchang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games was launched at its inaugural assembly on 19 October 2011. The first tasks of the organising committee were putting together a master plan for the Games as well as forming a design for the venues. The IOC Coordination Commission for the 2018 Winter Olympics made their first visit to Pyeongchang in March 2012. By then, construction was already underway on the Olympic Village. In June 2012, construction began on a high-speed rail line that would connect Pyeongchang to Seoul.The International Paralympic Committee met for an orientation with the Pyeongchang 2018 organising committee in July 2012. Then-IOC President Jacques Rogge visited Pyeongchang for the first time in February 2013.
The Pyeongchang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games created Pyeongchang WINNERS in 2014 by recruiting university students living in South Korea to spread awareness of the Olympic Games through social networking services and news articles.
Medals
The design for the Games' medals was unveiled on 21 September 2017. Created by Lee Suk-woo, the design features a pattern of diagonal ridges on both sides, with the Olympic rings on the front, and the obverse showing the 2018 Olympics' emblem, the event name and the discipline. The edge of each medal is marked with extrusions of hangul alphabets, while the ribbons are made from a traditional South Korean textile. Gold medals contained 99 percent of silver and 1 percent of gold, which is a traditional composition for Olympic gold medals. At they were the heaviest medals in the Olympic history.Torch relay
The torch relay started on 24 October 2017 in Greece and lasted for 101 days, ending at the start of the Olympics on 9 February 2018. The Olympic torch entered South Korea on 1 November 2017. There were 7,500 torch bearers to represent the combined Korean population of approximately 75 million people. There were also 2,018 support runners to guard the torch and act as messengers.The torch and its bearers traveled by a diverse means of transportation, including by turtle ship in Hansando Island, sailboat on the Baengmagang River in Buyeo, marine cable car in Yeosu, zip-wire over Bamseom Island, steam train in the Gokseong Train Village, marine rail bike along the east coast in Samcheok, and by yacht in Busan Metropolitan City.
There were also robot torch relays in Jeju and Daejeon.
Venues
Most of the outdoor snow events were held in the county of Pyeongchang, while some of the alpine skiing events took place in the neighbouring county of Jeongseon. The indoor ice events were held in the nearby city of Gangneung.Pyeongchang (mountain cluster)
The Alpensia Sports Park in Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang, was the focus of the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was home to the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Village and most of the outdoor sports venues.- Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre – ski jumping, Nordic combined, snowboarding
- Alpensia Biathlon Centre – biathlon
- Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre – cross-country skiing, Nordic combined
- Alpensia Sliding Centre – luge, bobsleigh, skeleton
- Yongpyong Alpine Centre – alpine skiing
- Phoenix Snow Park – freestyle skiing, snowboarding
- Jeongseon Alpine Centre – alpine skiing
Gangneung (coastal cluster)
- Gangneung Hockey Centre – ice hockey
- Gangneung Curling Centre – curling
- Gangneung Oval – long track speed skating
- Gangneung Ice Arena – short track speed skating, figure skating
- Kwandong Hockey Centre – ice hockey
Ticketing
As of 11 October 2017, domestic ticket sales for the Games were reported to be slow. Of the 750,000 seats allocated to South Koreans, only 20.7% had been sold. International sales were more favourable, with 59.7% of the 320,000 allocated tickets sold. However, as of 31 January 2018, 77% of all tickets had been sold.
The Games
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium on 9 February 2018. The US$100 million facility was only intended to be used for the opening and closing ceremonies of these Olympics and the subsequent Paralympics; it was demolished following their conclusion.Sports
The 2018 Winter Olympics featured 102 medal events over 15 disciplines in 7 sports, making it the first Winter Olympics to surpass 100 medal events. Six new events in existing sports were introduced to the Winter Olympic program in Pyeongchang: men's and ladies' big air snowboarding, mixed doubles curling, men's and ladies' mass start speed skating, and mixed team alpine skiing.| 2018 Winter Olympic sports program |
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''Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each separate discipline.''