The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in PyeongChang (평창) from February 9th to the 25th. A small county in the north eastern section of South Korea, it is known for its mountainous terrain and tourist attractions. The mascot for this event will be a white tiger named Soohorang (수호랑). In Korean mythology, white tigers are guardians of the country and people. Tigers are also a symbol of trust, strength, and protection. Soohorang literally translates into guardian/protector tiger.
The symbol/emblem of the 2018 Olympics also has significant meaning. The two symbols are based on the consonants in the characters of PyeongChang. The first symbol represents a place where earth, heaven, and humanity can meet in harmony, while the second symbol represents snow, ice, and the athlete’s performances.
There are four new events at the 2018 Olympics. The big air events for snowboarding and skiing involve jumping off a large ramp and performing as many tricks/jumps in the time allotted. There will be a mixed doubles curling event, and mass start speedskating added as well, while men and women’s parallel slalom snowboarding is dropped from the list of events.
Interestingly enough, in order to prevent confusion with North Korea’s capital, PyeongChang “changed” its name, capitalizing the C in order to emphasize the difference. In other news, due to scheduling conflicts with the NHL, hockey players will be unable to attend the Olympics.
One of South Korea’s more dominant winter events is speed skating. Ever since the debut of short track speed skating in 1992, Korea has won most of the medals with the exception of the 2014 Olympics. However, in the recent Asian Winter Games, South Korea has done particularly well, raising hopes for their continued dominance in the sport. Other sports gaining popularity in South Korea are figure skating and skeleton. Skeleton involves the rider lying prone on a sled on an ice track. Unlike luge, they go down head first. Ice skating is also extremely popular in South Korea, mostly in part due to the ice skater Kim Yuna. In addition to being one of the highest paid female athletes at the time, she was also a pop culture icon, appearing in commercials and songs, etc.
