Olympia 2018: Historical handshakes at the opening ceremony

Olympic Winter Games.

Athletes from 92 nations compete until 25. February in 102 competitions. The 153-strong German team has its first chance to win gold on Saturday by biathlete Laura Dahlmeier.

South Korea’s President Moo Jae In opened the second games in his country 30 years after the Summer Games of Seoul at 21.42 local time with the traditional Korean formula. The Olympic fire then lit up at 22.09 local time South Korea’s superstar Kim Yuna: The figure skating Olympic champion of 2010 had resigned after the silver medal of 2014 and was presented with the torch symbolically by a North Korean and a South Korean ice hockey player.

The sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is the first member of the ruling Kim dynasty to visit South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953. For the first handshake, Moon and Kim met as soon as they entered the VIP stand, and for the second, Moon turned to Kim in the stands while the Korean athletes were marching in – she smiled back at Kim.

The fourth joint invasion of Korean athletes since the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 was, as expected, one of the highlights of the event, in front of US Vice President Mike Pence, who had criticised North Korea’s gestures of reconciliation as propaganda in the middle of this week. Ice hockey player Hwang Chung Gum from North Korea and bobsledder Won Yun Jong from South Korea wore the Korean unification flag to the stadium in celebration of the crowd.

The athletes of both Koreas sent a “powerful sign of peace to the world,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in his opening speech, adding:”We are all touched by this wonderful gesture,” followed by Korean artists singing John Lennon’s peace song “Imagine. The first match of the Korean women’s ice hockey team is eagerly awaited on Saturday – with three North Koreans.

According to the Korean alphabet, the German team moved into the 35,000 spectators’ Olympic Stadium as ninth in front of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s eyes – the pentagon made of tubular steel was built only for the opening and closing ceremonies. Combiner Eric Frenzel marched ahead as the flag bearer.”A great experience. I will remember it for a lifetime,”he said.

Thanks to a mixed vote of athletes and spectators, Frenzel prevailed against Claudia Pechstein, among others, thanks to the athletes’ vote. Last but not least, the 2014 Olympic champion is expected to make a decisive contribution to the German team’s better performance than four years ago: In Sochi, there were eight gold medals and eleven other medals. The first gold medal could also be won by ski jumper Andreas Wellinger on Saturday.

More medals are awarded in Pyeongchang than ever before – the Winter Games have grown again. There are now 102 competitions instead of 98, the number of participating nations has increased from 88 to 92. For the first time there will be participants from Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore. Eight countries from the African continent are represented.

There was a whistle on the march of the Russian athletes, who will initially compete in Pyeongchang as the “Olympic athletes from Russia”. An estimated 169 Russians are expected to start after the International Sports Court (CAS) dismissed the lawsuit filed by 47 athletes and coaches for participation in the games this morning. In his speech, Bach called on all athletes to remain “clean”.

Pita Taufatofua from Tonga was enthusiastic. At the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, the 34-year-old was an eye-catcher of the opening ceremony at the Taekwondo competition with his oiled free upper body. For Pyeongchang he has qualified for cross-country skiing and announced:”I will be wearing very, very thick clothes. A bluff: Taufatofua came in sandals, with skirts – and a free upper body, of course well oiled.

Also in view of the cold weather, the organisers decided on a rather short but entertaining supporting programme with numerous references to the history of Korea. Initially, the focus was on five children, representing the five Olympic rings and the five elements. The children embarked on an adventure journey into the past and future of Korea, discovering a land of peace where people live in harmony with nature.