(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)
The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.
Friday, February 9th
Competition for the 2018 Winter Olympics began on Thursday but the Games are not officially open until the Opening Ceremonies are held and the Games are declared “open.”
Friday night in PyeongChang, Olympic organizers put on a spectacular display that celebrated the rich history and culture of the Korean people.
Memories from a wonderful #OpeningCeremony night. ❤️ #Pyeonchang2018 pic.twitter.com/rlTU3xU0R5
— Olympics (@Olympics) February 10, 2018
Lighting the Olympic flame is an honor bestowed to a select few in history. In PyeongChang, the honor was awarded to Yuna Kim, the South Korean figure skater who won gold at the 2010 Olympics and followed it up with a silver medal at the 2014 Games.
소망의 불꽃을 밝혀줘서 고마워요 #김연아
Thank you for lighting up our wish and dream of peace. #KOR
_____#PyeongChang2018 #Last #torchbearer #YunaKim #2018평창 #마지막 #성화봉송 #성화주자 #연느님 #올림픽 #동계올림픽 #여신 #평창 pic.twitter.com/wFMmqBDEZW— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) February 9, 2018
🔥 Lighting of the Olympic cauldron #PyeongChang2018 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/VzLFLaVLMt
— Olympics (@Olympics) February 9, 2018
One of the main attractions of any Olympic opening ceremonies is the parade of nations where all the athletes competing in the Games walk into the Olympic Stadium under the flag of their home nation. Another great honor of the Olympics is being named your country’s flag bearer for the opening ceremonies.
Carrying the flag for the United States was four time Olympian and 2014 bronze medalist, luger Erin Hamlin.
Here comes @erinhamlin, leading out the largest @TeamUSA Winter @Olympics team ever! 🇺🇸
See more on @pyeongchang2018 here: https://t.co/9xrRlc26PF pic.twitter.com/9NHtWC4rCZ
— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) February 9, 2018
If you watched the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, you may be familiar with Tonga athlete Pita Taufatofua.
Taufatofua took the world by storm in 2016 when he carried the Tonga flag during the opening ceremonies shirtless and covered in coconut oil. Well, in the meantime, Taufatofua traded in his taekwondo gear for cross-country skis and qualified for the 2018 Games. Being the only representative for Tonga in Pyeongchang, he once again carried the flag wearing the same garb as he did in Rio.
It sent NBC’s Katie Couric into a frenzy.
You might know him as “shirtless Tonga guy,” but his real name is Pita Taufatofua. #OpeningCeremony #WinterOlympics https://t.co/Ay5QOzAHZD pic.twitter.com/KseqED5YdD
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 10, 2018
All 95 competing nations paraded into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium on Friday night ranging from delegations containing only one or two athletes, all the way up to the United States who sent 244 athletes to the 2018 Games.
Due to tense relations between South Korea and North Korea, the two countries had extensive talks to find a way to allow North Korean athletes passage through the DMZ and into South Korea for the Games. When all was settled, the two rival countries came to an agreement that athletes from both nations would compete under the same flag in PyeongChang. The end result saw the athletes parade together under a unified Korea flag.
Historical moment as Korean athletes unite as one as they march into #PyeongChang2018
우리 선수들이 #2018평창 동계올림픽 개회식 선수 입장의 마지막을 장식했습니다. 감격적인 순간입니다!#OlympicTruce #Peace4me #평화올림픽 pic.twitter.com/p1G8tbf4W6— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) February 9, 2018
The ceremony was filled with great moments that spectators and athletes will remember for the rest of their lives.
Now that the cauldron was lit and the Games officially declared open, the medals could start being awarded.
Saturday, February 10th
After a few days of training and preliminary competition across several sports, Saturday marks the first day of medals.
(Medal events denoted by checkmark)
Every day will be packed with competition from morning until night so hopefully you’re fine with giving up some sleep over the next two plus week.
Some key events to keep an eye on for Saturday:
- The first gold medal will be awarded in cross-country in the early hours of the morning in the United States.
- There will be a total of seven gold medal events on Saturday.
- Lots of hot curling action throughout the day if that’s your thing.
- If you aren’t bothered by heights then check out the ski jumping events.
- Chaos on ice in the form of short-track speed skating is a must watch.
- The women’s ice hockey tournament kicks off with host South Korea taking on Switzerland.
- Saturday will be capped off on the slopes with Snowboard Slopestyle and the Men’s downhill.
You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.
If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.
Medal Table
None but check back tomorrow.
Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.
