, nations = 93
, athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women)
, events = 102 in 7
sports (15 disciplines)
, opening =
, closing =
, opened_by =
President Moon Jae-in
Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...
, cauldron =
Kim Yun-a
, stadium =
Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium
, winter_prev =
Sochi 2014
, winter_next =
Beijing 2022
The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
, summer_prev =
Rio 2016
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
, summer_next =
Tokyo 2020
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIII
es Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpik) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 ( ko, 평창2018, Pyeongchang Icheon sip-pal), were an international winter
multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...
held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in
Pyeongchang, South Korea, with the opening rounds for certain events held on 8 February, a day before the
opening ceremony.
Pyeongchang was elected as the host city for the 2018
Winter Games at the
123rd IOC Session The 123rd International Olympic Committee Session (or the 2011 International Olympic Committee Session, the 123rd IOC Session or the 2011 IOC Session) was held in July 2011 at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban, Sout ...
in
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, South Africa in July 2011. This marked the second time that South Korea had hosted the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
(having previously hosted the
1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul), 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
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
and
Nagano 1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
, both in Japan. It was also the first Winter Olympics to be held in mainland
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, and the first of three consecutive Olympic Games to be held in
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...
, preceding the
2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and the
2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, 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 {{refimprove, date=February 2018
Mass start is a format of starting in some racing sports such as long-distance running in sport of athletics, speed skating, long-distance cross-country skiing and biathlon.
There are usually many competitors in ...
speed skating,
mixed doubles curling
Mixed is the past tense of ''mix''.
Mixed may refer to:
* Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category), an ethnicity category that has been used by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics since the 1991 Census
* Mixed (album), ''Mixed'' ...
, and mixed team
alpine skiing. A total of 2,914 athletes from 93 teams competed, with the national debuts of
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
,
Eritrea,
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
.
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" (OAR), provided they could meet certain anti-doping requirements.
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
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
Korean reunification () is the potential reunification of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea into a single Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification was started by the June 15th North–South ...
, and fielded a
unified team (COR) in the
women's ice hockey.
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
Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...
. 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.
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
led the total medal tally with 39, followed by
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
at 31 and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
at 29. Germany and Norway were tied for the highest number of gold medals, both winning 14.
Bidding and election
Pyeongchang's award card, announced by the 's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge">IOC's_honorary_president_
's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge">IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge_">Jacques_Rogge.html"_;"title="IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge">IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge_
_.html"_;"title="Jacques_Rogge.html"_;"title="IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge">IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge_">Jacques_Rogge.html"_;"title="IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge">IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge_
file:월정사1.jpg">thumb.html" ;"title="file:월정사1.jpg.html" ;"title="Jacques_Rogge_.html" ;"title="Jacques_Rogge.html" ;"title="IOC's honorary president
IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge_">Jacques_Rogge.html"_;"title="IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge">IOC's_honorary_president_Jacques_Rogge_
file:월정사1.jpg">thumb">Woljeongsa_in_Pyeongchang,_Gangwon_Province,_South_Korea.html" ;"title="Jacques Rogge">IOC's honorary president Jacques Rogge ">Jacques_Rogge.html" ;"title="IOC's honorary president Jacques Rogge">IOC's honorary president Jacques Rogge
file:월정사1.jpg">thumb">Woljeongsa in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, South Korea">Gangwon-do
file:오대산_상원사.jpg, Sangwonsa in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, South Korea, Gangwon-do
Pyeongchang was elected as the host city at the
123rd IOC Session The 123rd International Olympic Committee Session (or the 2011 International Olympic Committee Session, the 123rd IOC Session or the 2011 IOC Session) was held in July 2011 at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban, Sout ...
in
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, 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
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
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 (
1988 Seoul Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
) and Winter Olympics.
Development and preparation
On 5 August 2011, the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) 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 (POCOG) was launched at its inaugural assembly on 19 October 2011. The first tasks of the organizing 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
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
.
The
International Paralympic Committee met for an orientation with the Pyeongchang 2018 organizing committee in July 2012. Then-IOC President
Jacques Rogge
Jacques Jean Marie Rogge, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator and physician who served as the eighth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 2013, Rogge bec ...
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
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
n 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
A ''Geobukseon'' ( ko, script=Hang, 거북선, ), also known as turtle ship in western descriptions, was a type of large Korean warship that was used intermittently by the Royal Korean Navy during the Joseon dynasty from the early 15th century ...
in Hansando Island,
sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminolo ...
on the
Baengmagang River
The Geumgang River is located in South Korea. It is a major river that originates in Jangsu-eup, North Jeolla Province. It flows northward through North Jeolla and North Chungcheong Provinces and then changes direction in the vicinity of Greater ...
in
Buyeo
Buyeo or Puyŏ ( Korean: 부여; Korean pronunciation: u.jʌ or 扶餘 ''Fúyú''), also rendered as Fuyu, was an ancient kingdom that was centered in northern Manchuria in modern-day northeast China. It is sometimes considered a Korea ...
, marine
cable car in
Yeosu
Yeosu (; ''Yeosu-si''), historically also Yosu, and known to the Japanese as Reisui during the period when Korea was under Japanese rule, is a city located on the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula in South Jeolla Province, South Korea an ...
,
zip-wire over
Bamseom
Bamseom is a pair of islets in the River Han in Seoul, South Korea. Bamseom means "chestnut island". The uninhabited islets, with a total area of about and length of , are located between the larger island of Yeouido, to which they were once c ...
Island,
steam train
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
in the
Gokseong
Gokseong County (''Gokseong-gun'') is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea.
Climate
Attractions
* Taeansa TempleCin Woo Le"Simply stunning: 33 incredible Korean temples" ''CNN Go''. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-12
* Neungpa Towe ...
Train Village, marine
rail bike along the east coast in
Samcheok
Samcheok () is a city in Gangwon-do, South Korea.
History
Ancient age & Three Kingdom
* It was called "Siljikguk or Siljikgokguk"
* 102 under the rule of Silla ( Pasa 23rd)
* 468 under the rule of Goguryeo ( Jangsu 56th)
* 505 The name changed ...
, and by
yacht in
Busan Metropolitan City.
There were also robot torch relays in
Jeju and
Daejeon
Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology an ...
.
Venues
_and_wind_turbines_in_Pyeongchang">Alpensia_Resort_and_wind_turbines_in_
_and_wind_turbines_in_Pyeongchang">Alpensia_Resort_and_wind_turbines_in_Pyeongchang_">Pyeongchang.html"_;"title="Alpensia_Resort_and_wind_turbines_in_Pyeongchang">Alpensia_Resort_and_wind_turbines_in_Pyeongchang_
Most_of_the_outdoor_snow_events_were_held_in_the_county_of__
Pyeongchang,_while_some_of_the_alpine_skiing_events_took_place_in_the_neighboring_county_of_Jeongseon_County.html" "title="Pyeongchang_.html" ;"title="Pyeongchang.html" ;"title="Alpensia Resort and wind turbines in Pyeongchang">Alpensia Resort and wind turbines in Pyeongchang ">Pyeongchang.html" ;"title="Alpensia Resort and wind turbines in Pyeongchang">Alpensia Resort and wind turbines in Pyeongchang
Most of the outdoor snow events were held in the county of Pyeongchang, while some of the alpine skiing events took place in the neighboring county of Jeongseon County">Jeongseon
Jeongseon (''Jeongseon-gun'') is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea. It is famous as the hometown of "Jeongseon Arirang," a traditional Korean folksong. It is also the hometown of actor Won Bin and footballer Seol Ki-hyeon.
H ...
. The indoor ice events were held in the nearby city of Gangneung.
Pyeongchang (mountain cluster)
The Alpensia Resort, Alpensia Sports Park in Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang, was the focus of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
It was home to the
Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
,
the
Olympic Village and most of the outdoor sports venues.
*
Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre
Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre (알펜시아 스키점프 경기장) is a ski jumping hills located at Alpensia Resort in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They hosted the ski jumping and the nordic combined events during the 2018 Winter Olympics. They als ...
– ski jumping, Nordic combined, snowboarding (big air)
*
Alpensia Biathlon Centre – biathlon
*
Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre – cross-country skiing, Nordic combined
*
Alpensia Sliding Centre
The Olympic Sliding Centre (올림픽 슬라이딩 센터) is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track that is located in Daegwallyeong, Pyeongchang, South Korea. The centre is located between the Alpensia and Yongpyong Resort. The venue is one ...
– luge, bobsleigh, skeleton
*
Yongpyong Alpine Centre – alpine skiing (slalom, giant slalom)
Additionally, a stand-alone outdoor sports venue was located in
Bongpyeong-myeon
Bongpyeong-myeon () is a myeon (township) in the county of Pyeongchang in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea. The myeon is located in northwestern part of the county. The total area of Bongpyeong-myeon is 217.41 square kilometers, and, as o ...
, Pyeongchang:
*
Phoenix Snow Park – freestyle skiing, snowboarding
Another stand-alone outdoor sports venue was located in neighboring Jeongseon county:
*
Jeongseon Alpine Centre – alpine skiing (downhill, super-G, combined)
Gangneung (coastal cluster)
The
Gangneung Olympic Park
The Gangneung Olympic Park is a sports complex area in Gyo-dong, Gangneung, South Korea, which contains four of the 2018 Olympic Games venues and served as the Olympic Park.
It includes the following venues:
* Gangneung Hockey Centre – Ice H ...
, in the neighborhood of
Gyo-dong in Gangneung city, includes four indoor sports venues, all in close proximity to one another.
*
Gangneung Hockey Centre
Gangneung Hockey Centre ( ko, 강릉 아이스하키 경기장) is an indoor arena located in the coastal city of Gangneung, South Korea. The arena was one of the two venues for the ice hockey events at the 2018 Winter Olympics, serving as the mai ...
– ice hockey (men's competition)
*
Gangneung Curling Centre – curling
*
Gangneung Oval – long track speed skating
*
Gangneung Ice Arena
Gangneung Ice Arena ( ko, 강릉 아이스 아레나) is an indoor Ice rink, ice arena, built for the 2018 Winter Olympics. It is located in the coastal city of Gangneung. It was the venue for two sports: Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics ...
– short track speed skating, figure skating
In addition, a stand-alone indoor sports venue was located in the grounds of
Catholic Kwandong University
Catholic Kwandong University (가톨릭관동대학교) is a South Korean university located in Gangneung, Gangwon-do. The university was established in 1954.
The Kwandong Hockey Centre is on its grounds.
Notable people
*Xiumin ( Exo)
*Park G ...
.
*
Kwandong Hockey Centre
Catholic Kwandong University Gymnasium is located on the grounds of Catholic Kwandong University in Gangneung, Gangwon-do, South Korea. During the 2018 Winter Olympics, it is one of the two venues for Ice Hockey. The official name as the Winter O ...
– ice hockey (women's competition)
Ticketing
Ticket prices for the 2018 Winter Olympics were announced in April 2016 and tickets went on sale in October 2016. Event tickets ranged in price from
₩
The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean won.
Appearance
Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike going through the cent ...
20,000 South Korean won (approx.
US$) to ₩900,000 (~US$) while tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies ranged from ₩220,000 (~US$) to ₩1.5 million (~US$). The exact prices were determined through market research; around 50% of the tickets were expected to cost about ₩80,000 (~US$) or less, and tickets in sports that are relatively unknown in the region, such as biathlon and luge, were made cheaper in order to encourage attendance. By contrast, figure skating and the men's ice hockey gold-medal game carried the most expensive tickets of the Games.
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 favorable, 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
![PyeongChang Olympic Opening Ceremony 14](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/PyeongChang_Olympic_Opening_Ceremony_14.jpg)
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 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
Big air is a high-injury-risk sports discipline where the competitor rides a vehicle, such as a motocross motorcycle, a skateboard, a snowboard, or a pair of skis, down a hill or ramp and performs aerial tricks after launching off very large jumps ...
snowboarding,
mixed doubles curling
Mixed is the past tense of ''mix''.
Mixed may refer to:
* Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category), an ethnicity category that has been used by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics since the 1991 Census
* Mixed (album), ''Mixed'' ...
, men's and ladies' mass start speed skating, and mixed team alpine skiing.
''Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each separate discipline.''
Participating National Olympic Committees
A record total of 93 teams qualified at least one athlete to compete in the Games. The number of athletes who qualified per country is listed in the table below (number of athletes shown in parentheses). Six nations made their Winter Olympics debut: Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore. Athletes from three further countries – the Cayman Islands, Dominica and Peru – qualified to compete, but all three National Olympic Committees returned the quota spots back to the
International Ski Federation (FIS).
Under a historic agreement facilitated by the IOC, qualified athletes from
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
were allowed to cross the
Korean Demilitarized Zone
The Korean Demilitarized Zone ( Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in ...
into South Korea to compete in the Games. The two nations marched together under the
Korean Unification Flag during the opening ceremony.
A
unified Korean team, consisting of 12 players from North Korea and 23 from South Korea, competed in the
women's ice hockey tournament under a special IOC country code designation (COR) following talks in
Panmunjom on 17 January 2018.
The two nations also participated separately: the
South Korea team competed in every sport and the
North Korea team competed in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating and short track speed skating.
On 5 December 2017, the IOC announced that the
Russian Olympic Committee had been suspended due to the
Russian doping scandal and the investigation into the
2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Individual Russian athletes, who qualified and could demonstrate they had complied with the IOC's doping regulations, were given the option to compete at the 2018 Games as "
Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) under the
Olympic flag and with the
Olympic anthem played at any ceremony.
Number of athletes by National Olympic Committee
Event scheduling
The IOC has allowed
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
to influence the Olympic event scheduling to maximize U.S. television ratings when possible, due to the substantial fees paid by NBC for rights to the Olympics (which have been extended through 2032 with a nearly $8 billion agreement), the company being one of IOC's major sources of revenue.
As
figure skating is one of the most popular Winter Olympic sports among U.S. viewers, the
figure skating events were scheduled with morning start times to accommodate
primetime broadcasts in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
. This scheduling practice affected the events themselves, including skaters having to adjust to the modified schedule, as well as lower attendance levels at the sessions.
Conversely, and somewhat controversially, eight of the eleven biathlon events were scheduled at night, making it necessary for competitors to ski and shoot under floodlights, with colder temperatures and blustery winds.
Calendar
:''All dates are
KST (
UTC+9)''
Medal table
Podium sweeps
Three
podium sweep
A podium sweep is where a team or nation comes in first, second and third, such as at the Olympics, and wins all available medals, which are recognized by a podium ceremony. The word Whitewash (sport), sweep is commonly used in North American sport ...
s were recorded during the Games.
Records
*
Noriaki Kasai
is a Japanese ski jumper. His career achievements include a gold medal at the 1992 Ski Flying World Championships, winning the 1999 Nordic Tournament, individual silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and two individual bronze medals at th ...
of Japan became the first athlete in history to participate in eight Winter Olympics when he took part in the ski jumping qualification the day before the opening of the Games. The previous record of seven Winter Olympics was held by Russian luger
Albert Demchenko
Albert Mikhailovich Demchenko (russian: Альберт Михайлович Демченко; born 27 November 1971) is a Russian luger who competed from 1992 to 2014. He is currently coaching the Russian luge team. His daughter Victoria Demchenk ...
.
* Japanese athlete
Yuzuru Hanyu
is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. He is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), a two-time World champion (2014, 2017), a four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), the 2020 Four Continents champion, the 2010 World J ...
became the fourth male figure skater (after
Gillis Grafström
Gillis Emanuel Grafström (7 June 1893 – 14 April 1938) was a Swedish figure skater. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He won three successive Olympic gold medals in Men's Figure Skating (1920, 1924, 1928) as well as an Olympic silver medal in ...
,
Karl Schäfer, and
Dick Button
Richard Totten Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure skater and skating analyst. He is a two-time Olympic champion (1948, 1952) and five-time consecutive World champion (1948–1952). He is also the only non-European man to h ...
) to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals.
* American
Nathan Chen
Nathan Chen (born May 5, 1999) is an American figure skater. He is the 2022 Olympic champion, a three-time World champion (2018, 2019, 2021), the 2017 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), a ten ...
became the first figure skater to land five
quadruple jumps in one program.
* German figure skaters
Aliona Savchenko and
Bruno Massot
Bruno Massot (born 28 January 1989) is a French-German pair skating coach and former competitor. Competing with Aljona Savchenko for Germany, he is the 2018 Olympic Champion, the 2018 World Champion, a two-time European silver medalist, and t ...
set a new
ISU best free skating score of 159.31 in
pair skating.
* Canadian figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history with a total of 5 medals.
* Canadian figure skaters
Tessa Virtue
Tessa Jane McCormick Virtue (born May 17, 1989) is a Canadian retired ice dancer. With ice dance partner Scott Moir, she is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (2010, 2012, 2017) ...
and
Scott Moir set a new
ISU best short dance score of 83.67 and a new
ISU best combined total score of 206.07 in
ice dance. French ice dancers
Gabriella Papadakis
Gabriella Maria Papadakis (born 10 May 1995) is a French ice dancer. With her partner, Guillaume Cizeron, she is a 2022 Olympic champion, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a five-time World champion (2015–2016, 2018–2019, 2022), a five-time con ...
and
Guillaume Cizeron
Guillaume Cizeron (born 12 November 1994) is a French ice dancer. With his partner, Gabriella Papadakis, he is the 2022 Olympic champion, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a five-time World champion (2015–2016, 2018–2019, 2022), a five-time ...
set a new
ISU best free dance score of 123.35.
* Russian figure skater
Alina Zagitova set a new
ISU best short program score of 82.92 in
Ladies' single skating.
* Dutch speed skater
Sven Kramer won gold in the men's 5000 m event, becoming the only male speed skater to win
the same Olympic event three times. He was also the first man to win a total of
eight Olympic medals in speed skating.
* Dutch speed skater
Ireen Wüst won an individual gold medal for the fourth Olympics in a row, the first time this had been achieved by a Winter Olympian. She also became the first speed skater (male or female) to win
ten Winter Olympic medals and the first female Winter Olympian to win
nine individual medals.
* Chinese short track speed skater
Wu Dajing beat the
men's 500 m world record twice en route to winning a gold medal, becoming only the second person in history to skate the discipline in under 40 seconds (after American
J. R. Celski), and the first to achieve this at "sea level".
* Dutch athlete
Jorien ter Mors became the first female athlete to win Olympic medals in
two different sports at a single Winter Games; she won a speed skating gold medal in the
1000 m and she was also part of the Dutch short track team that won bronze in the
3000 m relay.
*
Ester Ledecká of the Czech Republic won gold in the
super-G skiing event and another gold in the
snowboarding parallel giant slalom, making her the first female athlete to win Olympic gold medals in
two different sports at a single Winter Games.
* Norwegian cross-country skier
Marit Bjørgen won bronze in the
women's team sprint and gold in the
30 km classical event, bringing her total Olympic medal haul to fifteen, the
most won by any athlete (male or female) in Winter Olympics history. The record was previously held by fellow Norwegian athlete
Ole Einar Bjørndalen who has thirteen Olympic medals.
* Germany and Canada tied for gold in the two-man bobsleigh event, only the
second time in history that two countries had tied for a gold medal in this particular event, the first time being in the
1998 Winter Olympics twenty years earlier.
* Norway won a total of 39 medals, setting a new record for the highest number of medals won at a single Winter Olympics. Their 39th medal was the last gold medal won by cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen in the 30 km classical event. The record was previously held by the USA who won 37 medals in
Vancouver 2010.
Closing ceremony
The
closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held at the
Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium on 25 February 2018.
IOC president Thomas Bach declared the Games closed, and the cauldron was extinguished. The Olympic flag was handed to
Beijing, the
next host city of the Winter Olympics.
Broadcasting
Broadcast rights to the 2018 Winter Olympics were already sold in some countries as part of long-term broadcast rights deals, including the Games' local rightsholder
SBS, which in July 2011 had extended its rights to the Olympics through 2024. SBS sub-licensed its rights to
MBC and
KBS.
On 29 June 2015, the IOC announced that Discovery Communications (now
Discovery, Inc.) had acquired exclusive rights to the Olympics across all of Europe (excluding Russia) from 2018 through 2024. Discovery's pan-European
Eurosport channels were promoted as the main broadcaster of the Games, but Discovery's free-to-air channels such as
DMAX in Spain,
Kanal 5 in Sweden, and
TVNorge in Norway, were also involved in the overall broadcasting arrangements. Discovery was required to sub-license at least 100 hours of coverage to free-to-air broadcasters in each market;
some of these agreements required certain sports to be exclusive to Eurosport and its affiliated networks.
The deal did not initially cover France due to the broadcast rights of
France Télévisions
France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...
, which run through to the 2020 Games.
In the United Kingdom, Discovery held exclusive pay television rights under licence from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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, in return for the BBC sub-licensing the free-to-air rights to the 2022 and 2024 Olympics from Discovery.
, committed to covering the Games with a focus on Russian athletes.
Russia was not affected by the Eurosport deal, due to a pre-existing contract held by a marketing agency which extends to 2024.
under a long-term contract (this would be the only time that the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics will be held on NBC on the same year).
On 28 March 2017, NBC announced that it would adopt a new format for its primetime coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics, with a focus on live coverage in all time zones to take advantage of Pyeongchang's 14-hour difference with U.S.
(and 17-hour difference with U.S.
), and to address criticism of its previous tape delay practices. As before, the primetime block began at 8:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT), and unlike previous Olympics, was available for streaming.
events were deliberately scheduled with morning sessions so they could be aired during primetime in the Americas (and in turn, NBC's coverage; due to the substantial fees NBC has paid for rights to the Olympics, the IOC has allowed NBC to have influence on event scheduling to maximize U.S. television ratings when possible; NBC agreed to a $7.75 billion contract extension on 7 May 2014, to air the Olympics through the 2032 games,
is also one of the major sources of revenue for the IOC).
Coverage took a break in the East for late local news, after which coverage continued into "Primetime Plus", featuring additional live coverage into the Eastern late night and Western primetime hours.
video, including 90 hours of footage of selected events and the opening ceremonies.
, was introduced in South Korea in 2017 in time for the Olympics. This footage was delivered in 4K in the U.S. by NBCUniversal parent Comcast to participating television providers, including its own
. NBC's
also held demonstration viewings as part of its ATSC 3.0 test broadcasts.
The 2018 Winter Olympics were used to showcase
wireless technologies, as part of a collaboration between domestic wireless sponsor
. Several venues were outfitted with 5G networks to facilitate features such as live camera feeds from bobsleds, and multi-camera views from cross-country and figure skating events. These were offered as part of public demonstrations coordinated by the two sponsors.
The winners of the Olympic Golden Rings Awards were announced in June 2019. There were 75 pieces of broadcast content from the 2018 Olympics submitted over ten categories (plus one category for the 2018 Youth Olympics). NBC won a total of eight awards, winning four of the main categories: Best Olympic Feature, Best Olympic Digital Service, Best Olympic program and Best Documentary Film; they came second in the Best On-Air Promotion and Best Social Media Content/Production categories. Discovery/Eurosport won four categories: Best On-Air Promotion, Best Production Design, Best Innovation and Best Social Media Content/Production; they also came second in the Best Olympic Digital Service category. The BBC and NHK took the other two main awards: Most Sustainable Operation and Best Athlete Profile respectively. The title of Best Feature at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 was also awarded to the BBC.
letters and —the initial sounds of "Pyeong" and "Chang"—was unveiled on 3 May 2013. In all official materials, the name of the host city was stylized in
.
was introduced as the new "Mobility" sponsor of the Olympics, although the company waived its domestic sponsorship to the local competitors
due to their support of the Pyeongchang bid.
also debuted as e-commerce/cloud services and technology sponsors respectively.
and South Korea, concerns were raised over the security of the 2018 Winter Olympics, especially in the wake of tensions over North Korean
. On 20 September 2017, South Korean president
stated that the country would ensure the security of the Games. The next day,
, stated that France would pull out of the Games if the safety of its delegation could not be guaranteed.
The next day, Austria and Germany raised similar concerns and also threatened to skip the Games. France later reaffirmed its participation. In early December 2017, the
that it was an "open question" whether the United States was going to participate in the Games, citing security concerns in the region. However, days later the
, stated that the United States would participate.
In his New Year's address on 1 January 2018, North Korean leader
proposed talks in Seoul over the country's participation in the Games, which would be the first high-level talks between the North and South in over two years. Because of the talks, held on 9 January, North Korea agreed to field athletes in Pyeongchang. On 17 January 2018, it was announced that North and South Korea had agreed to field a
during the opening ceremony.
These moves were met with opposition in South Korea, including protests and online petitions; critics argued that the government was attempting to use the Olympics to spread pro-North Korean sentiment, and that the unified ice hockey team would fail. A
video entitled "The Regret for Pyeongchang" (평창유감), which echoed this criticism and called the event the "
in the country.
", and not to ease its pressure on the country.
and a prominent figure of the regime. This marked the first time since the
had visited South Korea.
In contrast, U.S. vice president
, who had died after being released from captivity in North Korea) and a group of
s in Pyeongchang. American officials said that North Korea cancelled a meeting with Pence at the last minute.
At the closing ceremony, North Korea sent general
as its delegate. His presence was met with hostility from South Korean conservatives, as there were allegations that he had a role in the
and other past attacks. The
stated that "there is a limitation in pinpointing who was responsible for the incident." Although he is subject to sanctions, they did not affect his ability to visit the country for the Games.
's participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics was affected by the aftermath of its
. As a result, the
) designation.
The official sanctions imposed by the IOC included: the exclusion of Russian government officials from the Games; the use of the Olympic flag and
in place of the Russian flag and anthem; and the submission of a replacement logo for the OAR uniforms.
By early January 2018, the IOC had banned 43 Russian athletes from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics and all future Olympic Games (as part of the
). Of those athletes, 42 appealed against their bans to the
(CAS) and 28 of the appeals were successful, but eleven of the athletes had their sanctions upheld due to the weight of evidence against them. The IOC found it important to note that CAS Secretary General "insisted that the CAS decision does not mean that these 28 athletes are innocent" and that they would consider an appeal against the court's decision. Hearings for the remaining three athletes were postponed.
The eventual number of neutral Russian athletes that participated at the 2018 Games was 168. These were selected from an original pool of 500 athletes that was put forward for consideration and, in order to receive an invitation to the Games, they were obliged to meet a number of pre-games conditions. Two athletes, who met the conditions and were cleared by the IOC, subsequently failed drug tests during the Games.
and other officials had signalled in the past that it would be a humiliation if Russian athletes were not allowed to compete under the Russian flag. However, there were never actually any official plans to boycott the 2018 Games
and in late 2017 the Russian government agreed to allow their athletes to compete at the Games as individuals under a neutral designation. Despite this public show of co-operation, there were numerous misgivings voiced by leading Russian politicians, including a statement from Putin himself saying that he believed the United States had used its influence within the IOC to "orchestrate the doping scandal". 86% of the Russian population opposed participation at the Olympics under a neutral flag, and many Russian fans attended the Games wearing the Russian colors and chanting "Russia!" in unison, in an act of defiance against the ban.
The IOC's decision was heavily criticized by Jack Robertson, primary investigator of the Russian doping program on behalf of the
(WADA), in whose opinion the judgement was commercially and politically motivated. He argued that not only was doping rife among Russian athletes but that there was no sign of it being eradicated. The CAS decision to overturn the life bans of 28 Russian athletes and restore their medals was also fiercely criticized, by Olympic officials,
's lawyer.