Russians sing banned anthem after beating Germany to gold

Kirill Kaprizov scored in overtime to lead the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) past a feisty Germany 4-3 on Sunday to win the men’s ice hockey gold before joining his team mates to defy a ban by singing the Russian national anthem during the medal ceremony.

The Russians, competing as neutral athletes at Pyeongchang as punishment for a years-long Russian doping scandal, came back from one-goal down on a goal by Nikita Gusev with less than a minute left in regulation time to force overtime in one of the most pulsating finals in the history of Olympic hockey.

At their medal ceremony, the players team sang the Russian anthem over the sound of the Olympic anthem at the Gangneung Hockey Centre despite being barred from having their flag raised or anthem played.

The game was played hours after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided not to restore their delegation’s Olympic status, which would have enabled them to march under their flag at the closing ceremony later on Sunday.

The team’s assistant captain Ilya Kovalchuk said the players had discussed beforehand whether to sing the anthem if they were to win, and they agreed they would.

“We knew that we will do it if we win,” said Kovalchuk, the all-time leading Russian goal-scorer in Olympic play.

Singing the Russian anthem on the field of play is a violation of the IOC’s rules on neutrality, which were imposed on Russia as part of sanctions punishing the nation over systematic doping across many sports.

The victory marked the first time a team from Russia have won the gold medal in hockey since 1992, when the so-called Unified Team representing Russia and five other former Soviet republics beat Canada for the Olympic championship.

“It means a lot. We didn’t win Olympics since ‘92,” Kovalchuk said. “It was a while ago. That was our dream. That was my dream for when I was five years old, when I started playing. It’s great and it feels good.”

WILD GAME
The game was a thriller from the start and ended with flair, a perfect one-time slap shot from Kaprizov that ripped past German goaltender Danny aus den Birken with Germany’s Patrick Reimer off for high sticking.

Kaprizov had been fed the puck by the other Russian hero of the game, Gusev, who netted two third period goals, including the one that tied it, sending the game to overtime with less than a minute to go and the Germans looking like they were about to pull off a huge upset. Gusev finished as the Olympic tournament’s points leader with four goals and eight assists.

The Russians found themselves evenly matched by a German team who surprised the hockey world by making it to their first Olympic final. With the loss, the Germans won silver, their best finish ever in Olympic ice hockey and their first medal since a bronze at the Innsbruck games in 1976.

On paper the final shouldn’t have been a fair fight, but the Germans, playing hockey for a country primarily obsessed with football, skated evenly with the OAR, a team loaded with top home-grown talent from Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, seen as the world’s second-best league after the NHL, and led by ex-NHL all stars Pavel Datsyuk, their captain, and Kovalchuk.

The Germans had punched above their weight to get to the final, beating hockey powerhouses Sweden and Canada, and they were not about to quit with the gold medal on the line.

They came back twice from one-goal deficits and took the lead late on a goal by Jonas Muller, who beat Vasili Koshechkin between the legs, only to have their hearts broken by Gusev and Kaprizov.

source: news agency

White delivers again to win third halfpipe gold

American Shaun White cemented his legacy as the most successful snowboarder of all time as he delivered a stunning routine under massive pressure on the final run of a gripping halfpipe final on Wednesday to win his third Winter Olympic gold and a landmark 100th for his country.

White needed a big performance to overhaul Japan’s Ayumu Hirano and duly delivered with a spectacular display to earn a score of 97.75. His victory means the United States have won all four snowboarding golds awarded at the Games.

White, 31, triumphed in 2006 and 2010 and after a long wait for his score on Wednesday he roared with emotion, punching the air as his superstar status - briefly undermined when he failed in Sochi four years ago - was set in stone.

“Man, that was awful and amazing at the same time,” White said of the long wait for his score. “I knew I did a great ride and I was proud of that and I could walk away with my head high, but when they announced my score and I’d won, it crippled me.”

Nineteen-year-old Hirano, who edged into first place after his second run and then posted 95.25 on his third, could not hide his disappointment as he trudged away from the finish area having matched his silver from Sochi 2014.

Australian Scotty James, the 23-year-old world champion, took bronze.


source: news agency

North Korean pair given warm welcome on Pyeongchang debut

North Korean pair skaters Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik made their long-awaited debut at the Pyeongchang Olympics on Wednesday in front of a crowd of euphoric spectators cheering on every jump and lift.

The pair were the first North Korean athletes to qualify for the Games but it was unclear for several months whether they would actually compete in South Korea.

The sense of anticipation was palpable at the Gangneung Ice Arena before the pairs short program.

A swarm of North Korean female fans wearing red and white tracksuits marched up to the stands, smiling and waiving to passers-by as out of uniform police officer looked on.

In the stands, they rhythmically chanted the skaters’ names as they waived flags of the country.

A small group of university students supporting better inter-Korean ties brandished a banner that read: “Pyeongchang fairy Ryom Tae Ok, jump toward unification!”

Skating to an instrumental cover of “A Day in the Life” by the Beatles, the pair cleanly executed all the elements of their program with a technically-sound performance that earned them a personal best score of 69.40 points.

They finished 11th overall and will compete in the long program on Thursday.

Bruno Marcotte, a Canadian coach who works with the pair, told Reuters on Tuesday they had been striving for a personal best score close to 70 points in the short program.

Their goal for the long program is more than 125 points. Their current personal best score for that program is 119.90.

The pair, who won bronze at the Four Continents Cup in Taiwan last month, embraced each other and their coaches in the kiss and cry area, jumping up and down with joy.

“There have been no inconveniences whatsoever when it comes to the life here in the South area,” Kim said in translated televised comments before the pair sped past the mixed zone where a horde of reporters were waiting for them.

“You could really feel the power and the energy of the Korean people.”

North Korea agreed to compete in Pyeongchang after the South and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) encouraged the heavily sanctioned state to participate as a peace gesture.

The skaters were the first North Koreans to qualify for the Games after they finished in the top six at a competition in Germany in September.


source: news agency

Russian player dedicates medal to banned compatriots

London: Russian speed skater Semen Elistratov, who earned Russia its first medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, dedicated the medal to his compatriots who have been banned from the Games in an "unfair way".

After winning a bronze medal in men's 1500m short track speed skating, following a crash that took out two skaters, Elistratov said, "I have difficulties to hold back my tears. I am incredibly happy that I did it, in spite of all the circumstances around Russian sport."

"I dedicate this medal to all guys that have been excluded from these Games in such a hard and unfair way. This medal is for you," the Guardian quoted Elistratov as saying.

Russia were banned from competing at the Winter Olympics because of state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Games in Sochi.

However, 169 Russian athletes are allowed to compete in the Games as neutrals under the OAR team banner and Elistratov is one of them.

"I still have two distances to contest and I will fight until the end," he said.

Elistratov comments are, however, under investigation as they appear to breach the rule over making any political statements.

The 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang were kicked off on February 9.

The first medal of the Games was won by Sweden's Charlotte Kalla in the ladies' skiathlon while Hyo-jun Lim provided the home nation with their first gold.



source: news agency

Organizers confirm 177 total norovirus cases at Pyeongchang

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organizers (POCOG) said on Monday a total of 177 norovirus cases had been confirmed so far at the Games but that the athletic delegations remained unaffected.

POCOG said 19 new cases of the virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea had been confirmed as of Sunday afternoon. It added that of the 177 cases, 68 had recovered and had been released from quarantine and returned to work at the Games.

The virus had broken out in the leadup to the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang last Friday and led to some 1,200 security staff being quarantined. Organizers had to call in military personnel to replace them.

No athletes have been confirmed to have contracted the highly contagious virus. An outbreak at last year’s World Athletics Championship in London forced competitors from several countries to miss events.

POCOG has said several agencies were cooperating to stifle the outbreak, with water quality being tested and inspections taking place at venues, restaurants, hotels and worker accommodation.



source: news agency

NBC boots analyst over Japan comment at Pyeongchang Games

Joshua Cooper Ramo, the commentator who offended locals during coverage of the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony by straying into the sensitive issue of Japan-South Korean relations, has been taken off the air, U.S. broadcaster NBC said on Monday.

“Joshua Cooper Ramo has completed his responsibilities for NBC in Pyeongchang, and will have no further role on our air,” an NBC spokesman said in an email to Reuters.

NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) had announced in December that Ramo would be a contributor at the Games, having previously served as an expert on culture and geo-political issues during the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the network.

Ramo’s speaker agency that represents him did not respond to a request for comment.

Ramo, who has written books on China and is a corporate director of Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) and FedEx Corp (FDX.N), said as athletes paraded into the Games stadium on Friday that “every Korean will tell you that Japan is a cultural, technological and economic example that has been so important to their own transformation”.

Koreans around the world criticized his remarks on social media and a petition soon circulated online.

Japan, which colonized the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945, has left a deep legacy of mistrust and ill-feeling in South Korea.

The Pyeongchang Organising Committee (POCOG) had earlier told Reuters that it “informed NBC of the errors in their commentary and the sensitivity of the subject in Korea”.

NBC apologized in writing to Pyeongchang’s organizing committee for the remark, which the committee said it had accepted.

The Pyeongchang organizing committee did not immediately respond to the news Ramo had been let go.

Ramo is also co-CEO of Kissinger Associates, an advisory firm of former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

NBC is the exclusive U.S. broadcaster of the Olympics having paid about $7.65 billion to air the Games until at least 2032.



source: news agency

Polish president meets winter Olympians in Pyeongchang

Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife, Agata Kornhauser Duda, have met Polish sportspeople at the Olympic village in Pyeongchang.

Several dozen Poles, among them the country's top figure ice skaters, bobsledders and cross-country skiers, also met presidential aide Krzysztof Szczerski, Polish Ambassador to South Korea Piotr Ostaszewski, Sports Minister Witold Bańka and Polish Olympic Committee chief Andrzej Kraśnicki.

“The president told competitors that he was cheering for them and wished them new personal bests,” the Polish Olympic team's spokesman, Henryk Urbaś, said.

“The presidential couple said they were happy to be in Pyeongchang and were impressed by the mood,” Urbaś added.

The Polish first couple watched the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics from the stands at Pyeongchang on Friday and are set to watch ski jumpers, including Poland's Kamil Stoch, a gold medal winner at the Sochi games, in flight on Saturday.


source: news agency

Polish ski jumpers fourth and fifth at winter Olympics

Polish ski jumping star Kamil Stoch and his teammate Stefan Hula have finished fourth and fifth respectively at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in the Normal Hill event.

Germany's Andreas Wellinger grabbed the gold with a total of 259.3 points, followed by Norwegians Johann Andre Forfang (250.9 points) and Robert Johansson (249.7 points).

Poland's Maciej Kot came 19th while his countryman Dawid Kubacki did not qualify for the final round.

Polish ski jumpers will compete in the large hill event next Saturday and in the team event on Monday, February 19.

In the run-up to the Olympics, Polish officials had named ski jumping as the country's big hope for honours in South Korea.

source: news agency

Games organisers confirm cyber attack, won't reveal source

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organisers confirmed on Sunday that the Games had fallen victim to a cyber attack during Friday’s opening ceremony, but they refused to reveal the source.

The Games’ systems, including the internet and television services, were affected by the hack two days ago but organisers said it had not compromised any critical part of their operations.

“Maintaining secure operations is our purpose,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams.

“We are not going to comment on the issue. It is one we are dealing with. We are making sure our systems are secure and they are secure.”

Asked if organisers knew who was behind the attack, Adams said: “I certainly don’t know. But best international practice says that you don’t talk about an attack.”

The Winter Games are being staged only 80km (50 miles) from the border with North Korea, which is technically still at war with the South since their 1950-1953 war ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

The two teams marched together at an Olympics opening ceremony for the first time since 2006.

South Korea has been using the Pyeongchang Games to break the ice with the reclusive North, which has been trading nuclear threats with the United States recently.

“All issues were resolved and recovered yesterday morning,” Pyeongchang organising committee spokesman Sung Baik-you told reporters.

“We know the cause of the problem but that kind of issues occurs frequently during the Games. We decided with the IOC we are not going to reveal the source (of the attack),” he told reporters.

Russia, which has been banned from the Games for doping, said days before the opening ceremony that any allegations linking Russian hackers to attacks on the infrastructure connected to the Pyeongchang Olympic Games were unfounded.

“We know that Western media are planning pseudo-investigations on the theme of ‘Russian fingerprints’ in hacking attacks on information resources related to the hosting of the Winter Olympic Games in the Republic of Korea,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.

“Of course, no evidence will be presented to the world.”

Cyber security researchers said in January they had found early indications that Russia-based hackers may be planning attacks against anti-doping and Olympic organisations in retaliation for Russia’s exclusion from the Pyeongchang Games.


source: news agency

Protesters tear N. Korean flags, leader's photos in Seoul

Conservative activists tore photos of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and attempted to burn its national flag in demonstrations here on Saturday against Pyongyang's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

A flurry of demonstrations took place on the streets as Kim's sister and other high-ranking officials visited the presidential office and North Korean art troupe Samjiyon Orchestra arrived in Seoul to perform on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported.


Some 800 anti-North Korean protesters marched and staged street performances in front of the Deoksu Palace in central Seoul, condemning the North Korean leader and President Moon Jae-in, who they regard as too soft on the North.

Photos of Kim Jong-un and North Korea's national flags were seen damaged and in tatters.

Some were holding up a ripped-up "Korean Unification" flag, which was used when athletes from South and North Korea made a joint entrance at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics on Friday night.

Some people tried to burn the North Korean national flag, but were contained by police.

"You are fired. Get out of here Korea," one protester, wearing a mask of US President Donald Trump, shouted at a protester wearing a mask of the South Korean President.

Three people playing the roles of President Moon, the North Korean leader and Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state, respectively, walked in silence, tied to each other by a rope.

Similar demonstrations took place sporadically around the city.

The protests took place as Kim Jong-un, in a message delivered by his sister Kim Yo-jong, invited Moon to Pyongyang at the "earliest date" possible for what will be a third inter-Korean summit.


source: news agency

On paper, Russia's Olympic podium chances strong despite ban

PYEONGCHANG: Russia’s team for the Pyeongchang Olympics could be as formidable as previous ones even though the government says it was decimated by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to bar man of its medal hopefuls.

Data compiled by Reuters suggests that, at least on paper, the team for this month’s Winter Olympic Games is as strong as past ones even without notable contenders such as excluded short track speed skater Viktor Ahn, a six-time Olympic gold medalist.

The IOC banned Russia from the Games over a doping scandal. All but one of the 169 athletes that were cleared to compete are taking part in Pyeongchang as neutral Olympic Athletes from Russia.

A further 47 banned coaches and athletes, including Ahn, had appealed the IOC decision but on Friday their appeals were dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Nevertheless, fourteen of the athletes taking part are medal winners at the most recent world championships in their respective disciplines. That includes two golds, individually or in relay and team pursuits events.

The Russian team at the 2010 Vancouver Games had 179 members, according to the IOC. These athletes had won 13 world championship medals heading into those Games, including three golds. At Vancouver they came away with three gold, five silver and seven bronze medals.

“I think it’s a fair comparison,” said Brian Cazeneuve, who makes Olympic podium predictions for Sports Illustrated magazine.

“Given that those (the Vancouver Games) were not perceived as being very successful Olympics for them, it gives you an idea of what they will be expected to do now.”

Wins at previous world championships or Olympics offer no safeguard against upsets and injuries that influence performance.

But the presence of several world championship and Olympic medalists suggests that some will end up on the podium.

The Russians competing in Pyeongchang won seven medals at the previous games in 2014 in the southern Russian city of Sochi, including four golds. The Russians who competed in Vancouver won eight medals at the 2006 Turin Olympics, including three golds.

The Reuters examination of Russia’s 2018 Olympians’ results did not focus on the Sochi Games, over which Russia has faced allegations of orchestrating one of the biggest doping cover up schemes in sport.

At those Games, Russia had a team of 225 athletes, according to the IOC. Given that this number is more than the country would have sent to an Olympics abroad, and home teams tend to do well, the success Russia has had at those Games cannot easily be compared to that at other Olympics.

“Home teams always tend to do a little bit better. You’re still going to get more, for instance, South Korean medalists probably this time than you would another time for obvious reasons: home eating, home training, familiarity with the venues and so forth,” said Cazeneuve.

Russia won 33 medals, including 13 golds, in Sochi. Then the IOC stripped Russia of 13 medals, including four golds.

CAS last week reinstated the results of 28 athletes who had appealed the IOC’s decision. CAS also overturned their lifetime bans although they were still not invited to compete in Pyeongchang by the IOC.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the ruling.

“It confirms our position on the fact that the vast majority of our athletes are clean,” he told reporters on Feb 1.

Putin added that Russia still needed to continue its fight against doping along with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Russia has vehemently denied the existence of a state-sponsored doping program in the country, as revealed in WADA-commissioned reports.

Reuters also excluded hockey and curling from the calculation. The comparison in team sports is less exact because some members might have won medals in previous competitions but others may not.

BAFFLED
The IOC banned Russia over what it called the “systematic manipulation” of the anti-doping testing system at the 2014 Sochi Games.

It left the door open for athletes without a history of doping to compete at its invitation without the Russian tricolor, national emblems or anthem. Last month it released a list of 17 factors that were used to determine which Russians would be invited to the Games.

The selection of some and the exclusion of others has left athletes and some international sports bodies baffled as to how the IOC compiled the list.

Speaking to reporters last month, short track speed skater Sofia Prosvirnova said the invitation process had been “a lottery” while former National Hockey League (NHL) player Ilya Kovalchuk said the exclusion of some athletes had been “completely unfair.”

International sports organizations say the IOC selection criteria should have been made public sooner than they were.

“The disappointment for us is that it is not transparent,” Graeme Steel, chief executive of iNADO, an umbrella group that includes the world’s leading anti-doping agencies, told Reuters.

“We can’t see what has enabled those athletes to demonstrate that they are clean. As it stands at the moment, we can’t verify how they’ve gotten there.”

The IOC did not answer questions about criticism of the selection process.

It said in a statement to Reuters: “The result came after intensive weeks of work by the Independent Invitation Review Panel members, in which they went into detailed consideration of each individual athlete.”

Russian officials are upset that Ahn, biathlete Anton Shipulin and other top competitors have been excluded and their appeals rejected. It will not have enough athletes for relays in certain events.

Speed skater Olga Graf, who won two bronze in Sochi, said last month that she had turned down the IOC invitation to compete. She was the only Russian athlete to reject the IOC invitation.

Graf said the exclusion of several team mates would prevent Olympic Athletes from Russia from contending for a medal in the team pursuit event.

Cazeneuve initially projected Russia would win two gold medals in Pyeongchang, close to the three in Vancouver.

He projected Russia’s teenage figure skater Alina Zagitova and speed skater Denis Yuskov would win gold. But Yuskov was not invited by the IOC and CAS on Thursday determined its ad hoc division in Pyeongchang lacked jurisdiction to deal with the case.

“The result is bizarre: a delegation of ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia’ little different in number than recent Russian Winter Olympic Teams,” said Joseph de Pencier, the former CEO of iNADO who continues to work in anti-doping.

source: news agency

Skier Vonn in tears over memory of grandfather

American skier Lindsey Vonn burst into tears during her arrival press conference at the Winter Olympics on Friday when asked about the passing of her grandfather.

Vonn’s 88-year-old grandfather Don Kildow passed away last month and the skier has spoken several times of his importance in her life.

Kildow served in the U.S. military in Korea during the war in the country in the 1950s.

Asked by a reporter how his memory resonated with her now she was in Korea, Vonn said: ”It’s really hard. I wish you hadn’t said it. It’s really hard for me not to cry.

“I want so badly to do well for him. I miss him so much, he has been such a big part of my life and I really had hoped that he would be alive to see me,” she said in tears after pausing.

“But I know that he is going to help me and I am going to win for him.”

Vonn, who is the most successful woman skier on the World Cup circuit with 81 career victories, is looking to repeat her downhill gold from Vancouver in 2010 after missing out in Sochi four years ago due to injury.



source: news agency

At Games reception, a hopeful dessert and a hasty exit

PYEONGCHANG: At an Olympic dinner reception designed to break the ice between two nations still technically at war, the dessert said it all.

Dark chocolate tempered in the shape of barbed wire lay over a map of the Korean peninsula rendered in thin blue chocolate, a representation of the heavily militarised border that separates Games host South Korea and its old enemy in the North.

The guests, including leaders of North and South, were invited to pour melted white chocolate on top - and the barbed wire would dissolve.

The dessert, called “A Plate of Hope”, was what South Korean President Moon Jae-in planned to serve his dozen VIP guests, which were to include U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics’ pre-opening party on Friday.

But Pence had other ideas.

He left the reception after just a few minutes, skipping the hopeful dessert and a potentially awkward encounter with North Korea’s nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam.

“South Korea has some difficult homework to solve regarding some countries,” Moon told the gathering of some 200 VIPs at the reception before Pence arrived.

“There are some who would not want to be in the same room together if it wasn’t for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. But what is more important than anything is that we are together.”

Pence arrived at the reception late and had planned to leave directly after a photo session but Moon asked him to “come and say hello to friends”, Moon’s presidential spokesman said.

Pence came to the table and shook hands with all of the VIPs on the head table except Kim Yong Nam, and left the reception five minutes later. Unlike Pence, fellow attendee Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did shake hands with Kim Yong Nam, the South’s presidential Blue House said.

Pence’s absence undid some careful organising, according to a seating diagram provided by a South Korean government source and protocol experts.

The early plan showed Pence, with his wife to the left and Moon to his right, seated across the round table from Kim, who was nestled between U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach’s wife.

Abe, also a staunch critic of the North Korean regime, was to sit opposite Moon, between Guterres and Han Zheng, a member of China’s Politburo Standing Committee. Other guests at the top table included Moon’s wife, and the German president and his wife.

“The seating arrangement shows traces of the organisers’ agony,” said a former South Korean chief of protocol who reviewed the early draft of the seating arrangement.

In a such a setting, the host nation would usually arrange seating by the alphabetical order of country names or the length of terms the guests had served, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The work-around showed the host had adopted the principle that “no one should be uncomfortable with the person sitting next to them”, with those from international organisations playing a buffer role, the official said.

As it was, the two spaces set aside for Pence and his wife were left empty and seats for others were shuffled to more closely match normal protocols.

A source in the Moon administration said Pence’s absence at the reception was a “mere bump” in an otherwise successful diplomatic event.



source: news agency

Awkward diplomacy on show as 'peace' Games begin

PYEONGCHANG: The Winter Olympics sparked to life in a vivid, colorful ceremony of fire and ice in South Korea on Friday, though the diplomacy was tougher to choreograph in the stadium where leaders from nations that are sworn enemies sat close together.

South Korea, which is using the Pyeongchang Games to break the ice with North Korea, seated its presidential couple alongside U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, with two of the North’s most senior officials sitting in the row behind.

President Moon Jae-in, who wants to harness the Olympic spirit to pave the way for talks over the North’s weapons program, warmly shook hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s smiling sister as well as the North’s nominal head of state.

The South is still technically at war with the North after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, and the United States and North Korea have recently swapped nuclear threats. Pence vowed only this week to tighten sanctions on the North.

Underlining Moon’s efforts to re-engage with the North, the opening ceremony followed the story line of children wandering through a mythical landscape and discovering a world where people live in peace and harmony.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach told the crowd that by allowing their athletes to march together under one flag at the ceremony, North and South Korea had shown sport’s “unique power” to unite people.

“All the athletes around me, all the spectators here in the stadium, and all Olympic fans watching around the world ... we are all touched by this wonderful gesture,” he said.

The Olympics have provided some respite from years of tense relations between Seoul and Pyongyang, though just hours before the ceremony hundreds of anti-North Korean protesters scuffled with riot police outside the stadium, burning North Korean flags and pictures of its leader, Kim Jong Un.

South Korea’s frigid February, where temperatures have plummeted to minus 20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) at night, has come as a shock to the system for athletes and visitors alike in the leadup to these Games, prompting concerns about hypothermia at the opening ceremony.

The weather was a little milder than feared on Friday, but spectators still huddled near heaters, holding hot packs and slurping down steaming fishcake soup to ward off the chills.

Bundled up in a scarf, mask and knitted hat, with hot packs tucked into her knee blanket, office worker Shin Hye-sook said she and her three colleagues were coping with the cold.

“We’re sitting as close as we can and trying not to move a lot to save our energy,” said the 60-year-old.

The alpine town first bid for the 2010 Games but narrowly lost out to Vancouver, and suffered similar heartbreak when it was beaten to the 2014 Olympics by Sochi.

After announcing its arrival on the international stage by hosting the 1988 Seoul Olympics, South Korea now wants to show the world just how far it has come over the last 30 years with a Games showcasing its culture and technological prowess.

According to Olympic tradition, the Greek contingent headed the parade of athletes into the open-air stadium, followed by the other delegations in order according to the Korean alphabet.

Pence stood to welcome the U.S. athletes as the Korean pop hit Gangnam Style blared around the stadium, sparking the ‘Horse Dance’ in the crowd and among the volunteers.

The moment failed to elicit even a smile from the two senior North Korean officials in the VIPs box, however, as they sat stony-faced in black fluffy hats and long coats.

Elsewhere in the stadium, a Kim Jong Un impersonator was not made as welcome as the North Koreans in the VIP box and was ejected by security. “Well is my sister getting the same treatment?” he demanded to know.

As the athletes made their way around the track, one of the biggest cheers was reserved for muscle-bound Tongan Pita Taufatofua, who repeated his famed Rio Games entrance by marching in shirtless, oiled up and wearing a traditional skirt -- this time in sub-zero temperatures.

Later, the crowd erupted as athletes from North and South Korea marched together under the unification flag for the first time at an Olympics since 2006.

source: news agency

Pence avoids Olympics encounter with North Korean official as Korean athletes march together

PYEONGCHANG: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence made only a brief appearance at a reception marking the start of the Winter Olympics on Friday, avoiding a potentially awkward encounter with the ceremonial leader of North Korea attending the same event.

The reception in the mountain resort of Pyeongchang came hours before North and South Korean athletes marched together at the opening ceremony, the culmination of months of work by Seoul, which seeks to use the Olympics to ease tension spurred by North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Ahead of the reception, hosted by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, South Korean media said Pence was expected to be seated opposite Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, at the 12-seat head table.

But South Korea’s presidential Blue House said Pence had a meeting scheduled with U.S. athletes and had only planned to stay briefly to greet other officials.

Pence shook hands with other leaders, including close ally Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but not Kim Yong Nam, according to a Blue House pool official.

Earlier on Friday, Pence said Moon gave his backing to additional measures the United States is planning to try to curb North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, speaking after paying tribute at a South Korean memorial.

At the opening ceremony, Kim Yong Nam and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, waved to North and South Korean athletes who marched under a unified peninsula flag for the first time in a decade.

Moon later officially declared the Olympics open, followed by a burst of fireworks. South Korea’s figure skating superstar and Olympic gold medalist Kim Yuna lit the Olympic cauldron.

The high-ranking North Korean delegation had landed in South Korea earlier in the day aboard Kim Jong Un’s white private jet which had the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name, inscribed in black in Korean on its side, followed by the North Korean flag.

Kim Yo Jong and her delegation were greeted by government officials, including Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon, before boarding a bullet train to Pyeongchang. A special train had been prepared just for the visitors, a Blue House pool report said.

Smiling and seemingly unfazed by cameras flashing during the airport meeting, Kim Yo Jong wore a black coat, matching ankle boots and carried a black purse. Dozens of South Koreans at the airport tried to snap photographs of her on their mobile phones.

She was the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit the South, while Kim Yong Nam was the most senior North Korean official to make a cross-border trip.

The pair will have lunch with Moon at the Blue House on Saturday, Moon’s office said.

RIOTS AND GAMES
Pence had kept open the possibility for some contact with the North Koreans in South Korea, while reiterating Washington’s insistence that denuclearization by North Korea is a necessary condition for permanent peace.

Pence, Kim Yo Jong and other world leaders attended the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea.

Pence stood to welcome the U.S. athletes as the Korean pop hit Gangnam Style blared around the stadium, sparking the ‘Horse Dance’ in the crowd and among the volunteers.

Hundreds of anti-North Korea protesters scuffled with riot police hours not far from the main stadium before the opening ceremony began, with some of their banners reading “Moon regime is leading Korea to destruction”.

Thousands of spectators, including a squad of more than 200 North Korean cheerleaders, packed the frigid stadium for the opening ceremony.

“It is not as cold as I expected. It is a blessed day. I like the reconciliatory mood and I have high expectations,” said Kim Sang-yoon, a 44-year-old businessman who drove nearly five hours to see the opening ceremony with his wife and two sons.


source: news agency

Congress opens second investigation into USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal

Washington: U.S. lawmakers on Thursday began a second congressional investigation into the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Gymnastics (USAG) and other gymnastic organizations over a sexual abuse scandal that led to the conviction of the sport’s former top medical doctor.

A U.S. House of Representatives committee asked the organizations for training materials, other documents regarding medical consent procedures and how complaints and reports of abuse are handled, according to letters sent by the panel.

The former sports doctor, Larry Nassar, last year pleaded guilty to molesting female athletes under the guise of medical treatment for nearly 20 years and has been given two prison sentences in Michigan of 40 to 125 years and 40 to 175 years. He is also serving a 60-year federal term for child pornography convictions.

A Michigan judge said on Jan. 31 that so far 265 girls and women had accused Nassar of sexual misconduct. More than 150 girls and women recounted their stories of abuse in court.

Dozens of the victims, including international stars such as Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles have accused officials at the USOC, USAG and Michigan State University - where Nassar also worked - of failing to investigate complaints stretching back decades.

Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Thursday said they want to understand what failed within each of the groups and why. Letters requesting the information were sent to the gymnastics governing bodies, Michigan State University, Karolyi Training Camps and Gedderts’ Twistars USA Gymnastics Club.
“The Committee is investigating how Nassar’s crimes were able to occur, let alone persist, for over two decades,” the committee said in its letters. Each is “at the centre of many of these failures,” the panel said.

Another panel, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is investigating sexual abuse in organised sports more broadly. The governing bodies have until Friday to submit written responses on questions from that panel about their handling of sexual misconduct cases.

On Wednesday, 18 senators asked to create a special panel on sexual misconduct issues in athletics to investigate USAG and the USOC.

The board of directors of USA Gymnastics stepped down after U.S. Olympic officials threatened to decertify the governing body. The USOC has announced an independent investigation into its own conduct and that of USA Gymnastics.


source: news agency

North Korea, U.S. set for uncomfortable encounter at Olympics as North delegation arrives

Pyeongchang: North Korea’s ceremonial leader and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence are set for their first face-to-face encounter on Friday when they attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, landed in South Korea on Friday along with leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, aboard her brother’s private jet shortly before 2 p.m. (0400 GMT).

The white airplane had Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name, inscribed in black Korean letters on its side, followed by the North Korean flag. Police formed barricades inside the airport, from where the delegation was to leave for mountain resort of Pyeongchang.

Kim Yo Jong is the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit the South, while Kim Yong Nam is the most senior North Korean official to make a cross-border trip. They were greeted at the airport by South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon.

The pair will have lunch with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday, Moon’s office said.

Pence arrived in South Korea on Thursday and had talks and dinner with Moon, both reiterating their commitment and cooperation to defuse tensions on the Korean peninsula sparked by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

He met North Korean defectors on Friday and was expected to pay tribute at a memorial for 46 South Korean sailors killed in 2010 in the sinking of a warship that Seoul blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack.

‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’

The move by Pence, who has described the North as the “most tyrannical and oppressive regime”, is in line with Washington’s campaign to put “maximum pressure” on Pyongyang.

Pence has kept open the possibility for some contact with the North Koreans in South Korea, while reiterating Washington’s insistence that denuclearization is a necessary condition for peace on the Korean peninsula.

Pence, Kim Yo Jong and other world leaders will attend the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea, later on Friday.

Moon will also hold a welcoming reception for his top guests before the opening, a presidential official said, where Pence and Kim Yong Nam could sit at the same table with Moon.

South Korea is pinning its hopes on the Olympics as a venue to demonstrate its efforts to defuse tensions and foster inter-Korean rapprochement.

The Games will see athletes from the two Koreas march together under one peninsula flag for the first time in more than a decade.

Nearly 500 North Koreans are participating in the Olympics, which run through to Feb. 25, including a cheering squad, art troupe and taekwondo demonstration team, the South’s Unification Ministry said.

However, the inter-Korean Olympics detente has raised concerns in Washington and Tokyo that Seoul may undermine the U.S.-led campaign of global pressure to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and missile programs.

Moon is also scheduled to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during which they are expected to discuss the North Korea standoff and the sensitive issue of “comfort women”, a euphemism for girls and women forced to work in Japan’s wartime brothels.

source: news agency

US Olympic system failed abused gymnasts - USOC

The U.S. Olympic system “failed” the hundreds of young female athletes sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Board of Directors Chairman Larry Probst said on Friday.

“The Olympic system in the United States failed these athletes and we are part of the Olympic system in the United States,” said Probst, speaking hours before the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Games.

He also said the USOC had not taken steps quickly enough to contact gymnasts abused by Nassar and that it had erred by failing to attend earlier sentencing hearings.

“That was simply a mistake,” he said. “We should have been there.”

Olympic champion Simone Biles is among several gymnasts who have criticized USOC for not making efforts to get in touch with them as the scandal unfolded.

“We took too long to reach out to the gymnasts after these revelations became public. We’re in the process of doing that now,” said Probst.

Former sports doctor Nassar last year pleaded guilty to molesting female athletes under the guise of medical treatment for nearly 20 years, and has been given two prison sentences in Michigan of 40 to 125 years and 40 to 175 years.

He is also serving a 60-year federal term for child pornography convictions.

U.S. lawmakers on Thursday began a second congressional investigation into USOC, USA Gymnastics and other gymnastic organisations over the abuse scandal.

Dozens of the victims, including Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles, have accused officials at the USOC, USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University of failing to investigate complaints stretching back decades.

The board of directors of USA Gymnastics stepped down after U.S. Olympic officials threatened to decertify the governing body.

The USOC had announced an independent investigation into its own conduct that would help them understand “who knew what about Nassar’s abuse, when and what they did with that information”.


source: news agency

Anime, technology on offer as Japan promote 2020 Games

Traditional paper cranes and some of the latest technology are on offer as Japan seeks to promote itself as the host of the next Olympic Games in 2020, with organisers hoping to inherit the enthusiasm and fervour of Pyeongchang 2018 hosts.

Tokyo will host the summer games for the second time, following the tremendously successful 1964 Olympics, and organisers have brought a large delegation to Pyeongchang to learn how to host them successfully.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also arrive in South Korea on Friday to attend the opening ceremonies.

But on Thursday it was all about introducing the fun side of Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Japan House, which opens to the public as the Games officially get going on Friday.

On offer were cameras allowing visitors to imprint their face on paper used to make traditional folded cranes and others that create life-size avatars that then romp through typical Tokyo street scenes on a huge screen.

“We will see an unprecedented run of three consecutive Olympics in Asia - Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo in 2020 and Beijing in 2022 - a chance for all Asia to cooperate to make these fun,” said Yukihiro Nunomura, Chief Operating Officer at Tokyo 2020.

“Pyeongchang will start this off and we expect this to be a huge success and that this baton can then be passed to Tokyo, so we inherit their enthusiasm and fervour.”

The Tokyo 2020 games will be Japan’s fourth run at the Olympics. Besides Tokyo in 1964, it has hosted the Winter Games twice - Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.

Tokyo planners have struggled with surging costs and construction delays, especially with the new national stadium, but the International Olympic Committee has repeatedly said it is pleased with how preparations are going.



source: news agency

Olympics: 'Extraordinary' Tokyo sponsorship deals near $3 billion

PYEONGCHANG: Record revenues from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics sponsorship programme have edged closer to $3.0 billion with more partners expected, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday.

Tokyo has eclipsed all of its Olympic predecessors in terms of sponsorship proceeds by almost three times and the IOC’s coordination commission chief for the 2020 Games, John Coates, praised overall progress.

“Tokyo continues to show positive progress and meeting key milestones,” Coates told the IOC session in Pyeongchang ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

He said new venue projects were also proceeding according to plan with the first such arena -- for badminton -- having opened late last year.

Sponsorship revenues had now topped $2.91 billion, Coates said, calling the programme “extraordinarily successful”.

“There are 47 partners in total, 15 in tier one, 29 in tier two and three in tier three. $2.91 billion of national sponsorship and there is more to come,” he said.

“It is a pleasure dealing with this local organising committee,” he said.

The London 2012 Games raised roughly $1.1 billion, while Rio de Janeiro in 2016 claimed it had slightly surpassed London, but final accounts are sketchy given investigations into corruption linked to Olympics projects in Brazil.

Tokyo initially struggled with preparations after being awarded the Games in 2013, scrapping plans for an expensive new stadium, reducing a ballooning budget from more than $26 billion to $16.8 billion and dealing with a number of environmental issues.

source: news agency