Tag: Pyeongchang

‘Pyeongchang Gust’: winds cause chaos in snowboard final

by Peter Stebbings Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Vicious winds caused a string of crashes as America’s Jamie Anderson survived the chaos to clinch her second straight slopestyle snowboarding Olympic gold in treacherous conditions on Monday. Nearly all the athletes — including Anderson — tumbled at some point at Pyeongchang’s Phoenix Park, where strong winds forced Sunday’s qualifiers to be scrapped and also delayed the final for more than an hour on […]

Five Olympic gold medals up for grabs

by Charles WHELAN Agence France-Presse PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AFP) — Five gold medals are up for grabs on the first day of full competition in the Winter Olympics Saturday, which features the debut of a unified Korean ice hockey team. A day after a gala opening ceremony highlighted rapprochement with the two Koreas marching into the stadium together behind a blue and white unification flag, the joint women’s ice-hockey team backed by North Korea’s vocal […]

Kim Jong Un’s sister arrives in South Korea for historic visit

by Hwang Sunghee Agence France-Presse PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister joined athletes and officials from around the world at the South’s Winter Olympics Friday, the first member of Pyongyang’s ruling dynasty to set foot in its rival since the Korean War. Kim Yo Jong was part of a diplomatic delegation led by the ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam — the highest-level North Korean official ever to […]

North Korea at the Olympics: What we know

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AFP) — More than 500 North Koreans are converging on Pyeongchang in South Korea for the 2018 Olympics, in a historic cross-border exchange between two countries still technically at war. AFP looks at what we know so far about the visitors from the isolated, nuclear-armed state. Kim’s sister The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit South Korea for Friday’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening ceremony and meet with South […]

N. Korean athletes to fly South for Winter Olympics

by Hwang Sunghee Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean skiers and skaters were due to arrive in the South Thursday to take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Games, setting the stage for a “peace Olympics” after a year of high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. Eight days before the opening ceremony, 10 North Korean skiers and skaters were to fly in on a chartered Asiana Airlines plane, in a rare direct flight […]

Mattis wants to keep pressure on N. Korea

HONOLULU, United States (AFP) – The United States and South Korea are going to keep tightening the screws on Pyongyang so that the hermit state gives up its nuclear program, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Friday. “As two peace-loving nations, the Republic of Korea and America welcome the Olympic Games talks between the ROK and DPRK while at the same time remaining steadfast with the international economic pressure campaign to denuclearize the Korean peninsula,” Mattis said in […]

IOC, two Koreas meet to finalise historic Olympic deal

by Ben Simon Agence France-Presse LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) – After the two Koreas struck a deal for the North to attend the Winter Games in the South, Olympic bosses will try Saturday to resolve the devils in the details of the landmark pact. With less than three weeks to go before the Games in Pyeongchang begin, the most momentous decisions have already been made. North and South Korea will march together at the opening ceremony under a […]

S. Korea PM apologizes for gaffe on unified team

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – South Korea’s prime minister apologized Friday for suggesting the country’s women’s ice hockey team had no chance of a medal at the Winter Olympics in an unsuccessful attempt to dampen criticism over a unified team with the North. The two Koreas agreed this week to field a unified women’s ice hockey side at the Games, which begin in Pyeongchang next month. It came after Pyongyang agreed to attend what organizers and Seoul […]

Medvedeva heads skating stars in Moscow as Pyeongchang looms

by Nick REEVES Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian ice skating queen Evgenia Medvedeva leads an all-star cast at this week’s European championships which carry special significance with the Olympics barely more than a triple axel away. The Pyeongchang Games start in just over three weeks and two-time world champion Medvedeva will be out to press home her claims on the women’s Olympic title that has been left vacant after the season-ending injury that […]

Two Koreas in fresh talks on Winter Olympics

by Jung Ha-Won Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North and South Korea began talks Monday on appearances by performers from Pyongyang’s state-run artistic troupes at next month’s Winter Olympics in the South, after the North agreed to attend the Games. Pyongyang agreed last week to send athletes, high-level officials, and others to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, easing months of high tensions over its weapons programmes. The two sides agreed an art troupe […]

Olympic flame stops in Seoul on journey to Pyeongchang

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Cheering crowds welcomed the Olympic flame to a freezing Seoul on Saturday, where the torch will be paraded for four days before making its way to Pyeongchang for the start of the Winter Games. The outlook for next month’s sporting extravaganza has brightened since North Korea confirmed its participation, lifting security concerns over the South’s nuclear-armed neighbour. The North has agreed to send an unknown number of athletes to the […]

Olympics: Winter sports explained

PARIS, France (AFP) — A record 102 gold medals will be awarded in 15 sports disciplines at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea from February 9-25. AFP takes a brief look at the medal events and how those sports disciplines work. Alpine skiing Alpine skiing is divided into speed events and technical events. The downhill and super-G, run over one leg, provide the speed while the giant slalom and slalom, held over two […]