The XXIII Olympic Games began on February 9, and on February 25 they awarded the winners of the latest competitions and transferred the Olympic flame to the organizer of the next Olympic Games. The grand opening ceremony was held on 9 February. The ceremony was attended by representatives from different countries, government officials, representatives of the media and show business, and many, many others. Also, the president of South Korea himself found time in his busy schedule, and he delivered a solemn speech. I note that at the opening ceremony and at some competitions he attended a representative of the Labor Party of North Korea. Perhaps it is a small bell of "warming" on the Korean peninsula. But who knows, these politicians are unpredictable.
The emblem symbolizes a world that is open to all. The logo shows the letter of the Korean alphabet ㅍ , which means the city itself of the OI - Pyeongchang is a city of harmony between heaven and earth. And the star in the upper right corner is snow and ice.
The motto of the OI 2018 is: Passion.Connected . It is a passion for winter sports that connects people with each other.
In the winter Olympics 2018, 92 countries and 2920 athletes competed in 7 sports, or in 15 sports disciplines, 6 of which were new . And only 307 athletes left Pyeongchang with medals on their chests.
The official mascot of the Winter Olympics was the Suhoran (수 ти) tiger cub , and the Pandabi bear (반 다비), the 2018 Pandipe Olympics . By the way, the Paralympic Games started on March 9.
As for the Olympic flame, according to tradition, the relay race began last year, in October, in Greece, and in the country of the OI, to South Korea, the fire was brought on November 1 of the same year. The fire passed 2018 km and 17 cities and suburbs in Korea. In the relay participated 7,500 torchbearers. In the city of carrying out the fire, the fire was delivered on 9 February. Well, the honor to light it at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games fell to South Korean figure skater Kim Yone.
The Olympic torch itself combines harmoniously interwoven white and gold colors. At the top of the torch is a 5-tiger star, representing the symbol OI 2018. The length of the torch is exactly 700 meters . And it's no accident. The height of Phenchang above sea level is also 700 meters.
In appearance, simple Olympic medals carry a deep meaning. The transverse lines, which are depicted on the front side, represent not only the resoluteness of the athletes, but also the history of the OI itself. And on the inside of the medals the corresponding sports disciplines are depicted. The ribbon itself is made of traditional fabrics, which are used in Korea for sewing hanbok.
For Malaysia, the Republic of Kosovo, Nigeria, Eritrea, Singapore, Ecuador, this was the first Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, the Russian Federation was not able to take part in the Olympics 2018, and those few athletes who could still come to the competitions were in neutral form under the flag of the UAR (Olympic Athletes from Russia). Last year, September 13, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) received a request to remove the Russian Federation from participating in the Winter Olympics 2018 from 17 anti-doping agencies. And in 3 months, on December 5, by the decision of the IOC, Russia was officially suspended from participation in the Olympic Games 2018. It should be noted that in the history of the Olympics, doping for the first time caused the country to be excluded from the list of participants in the OI.
Another significant event of the Olympics this year is that on January 9 it was decided that North Korea and South Korea would join forces in hockey competitions. So, the women's Korean hockey team played under the single flag of the Korean peninsula.
Official website: https://www.pyeongchang2018.com
The Olympic Games were over and the Olympic flame was transferred to the mayor of Beijing, the capital of China, where the following winter Olympic games will be held in 2022. 307 athletes left South Korea with medals. And 103 of them were gold.
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