Yahoo News Winter Olympics 2018 Pyeongchang: Schedule, dates, South Korea venues, TV info, Team GB lineup and history
The British team have been set a record target of five medals at next month’s Winter Olympics.
It’s less than a month until the British team head to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea and it’s been predicted that the squad will take home plenty of bling after UK Sport invested over £32m.
Lizzy Yarnold will be the first British athlete attempting to defend a Winter gold when she aims to reclaim the Skeleton title she won at the 2014 games in Sochi. Meanwhile the curling teams, Team Smith and Team Muirhead, are predicted to take home a minimum of one medal.
Russia will not be competing in this year’s games after it was found to have been running a state-sponsored doping scheme, which led to the country being stripped of 51 Olympic medals they won between 2011 and 2015. Athletes, who were cleared of doping and are participating in the games, are competing as Olympic Athletes from Russia.
Meanwhile, for the first time since 1998, National Hockey League stars will not be participating in the Winter Olympics. The NHL opted against giving its players a break to compete in PyeongChang.
The 2018 Winter Olympics will feature 102 events in 15 sports. The four new disciplines added this year include big air snowboarding, mixed doubles curling, mass start speed skating and mixed team alpine skiing.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the games…
The 2018 Winter Games will start on Thursday, February 8 and run until Sunday, February 25, with games commencing at 9am local time, while the opening ceremony is kicking off on Friday, February 9 at 8pm local time.
The games will take place at Alpensia ski resort, in PyeongChang, South Korea.
How can I watch it?
The Winter Olympics 2018 will be broadcasted on Eurosport after the Discovery-owned network won the rights to show Olympics across Europe from 2018 (and the UK from 2022).
Who is competing?
Skeleton champion Lizzy Yarnold is the first British athlete to defend an Olympic title after she won gold at the 2014 games in Sochi.
Short track speed skater Elise Christie became triple world champion at the 2017 World Championships and will be competing in three events in Pyeongchang.
The curling teams have won four medals at the games, including bronze and silver in Sochi four years ago. Team Smith and Team Muirhead are predicted to take home a minimum of one medal.
Snowboarder Katie Omerod won her first World Cup gold in Big Air last season and the event makes its Olympic debut in Pyeongchang.
Team GB
Curling (Team Smith) – Men’s
Kyle Smith
Thomas Muirhead
Kyle Waddell
Cammy Smith
Glen Muirhead
Curling (Team Muirhead) – Women’s
Eve Muirhead
Anna Sloan
Vicki Adams
Lauren Gray
Kelly Schafer
Figure Skating
Penny Coombes
Nick Buckland
Short-track speed skating
Elise Christies
Charlotte Gilmartin
Kathryn Thomson
Joshua Cheetham
Farrell Treacy
Luge
Adam Rosen
Rupert Staudinger
How much are tickets?
Tickets start at £14 and can be purchased from PyeongChang2018 website.
About PyeongChang
PyeongChang beat Munich (Germany) and Annecy (France) with 63 votes out of 95 total votes.
The Games will be South Korea’s second Olympic Games and its first Winter Games. Seoul hosted the summer games in 1988.
PyeongChang will be the third Asian city to host the winter games; the first two were in Japan, in Sapporo (1972) and Negano (1998).
Venues
Winter Olympics 2018 events schedule
Thursday, February 8 | ||||||||||
Curling – mixed doubles round robin | Ski jumping – qualification | |||||||||
Friday, February 9 | ||||||||||
Curling – Mixed doubles round robin | Figure Skating – Men’s and pairs | Freestyle Skiing – Qualifying, men’s and women’s moguls | ||||||||
Saturday, February 10 | ||||||||||
Biathlon – Women’s 7.5km sprint | Cross-Country Skiing – Women’s 7.5km skiathlon | Curling – Mixed doubles round robin | Women's Hockey: Japan v Sweden, Switzerland v South Korea | Luge – Men’s heat races | Short Track – Qualification: women’s 3000m and 500m relay, men’s 1500m | Ski Jumping – Normal hill | Snowboarding – Men’s slopestyle qualifying | Speed Skating – Women’s 3000m | ||
Sunday, February 11 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Men’s downhill | Biathlon – Men’s 10km sprint | Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s 15km skiathlon | Curling – Mixed doubles round robin | Figure Skating – Short dance, ladies short program, pairs free skate | Freestyle Skiing – Women’s moguls | Women’s Hockey – United States vs. Finland, Canada vs. Olympic Athletes from Russia | Luge – Men’s heat races | Snowboarding – Men’s slopestyle final, women’s slopestyle | Speed Skating – Men’s 5000m | |
Monday, February 12 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Women’s giant slalom | Biathlon – Men’s and Women’s pursuit events | Curling – Mixed doubles semifinals | Figure Skating – Men’s and ladies free skate, ice dance free dance | Freestyle Skiing – Men’s moguls | Women’s Hockey – Switzerland vs. Japan, Sweden vs. South Korea | Luge – Women’s heat races | Ski Jumping – Women’s competition | Snowboarding – Women’s slopestyle final, women’s halfpipe qualifying | Speed Skating – Women’s 1500m | |
Tuesday, February 13 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Men’s alpine combined | Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s and Women’s individual sprint finals | Curling – Mixed doubles bronze and gold medal matches | Women’s Hockey – Canada vs. Finland, United States vs. Olympic Athletes from Russia | Luge – Women’s heat races | Short Track – Women’s 500m final, men’s 1000m qualifying, men’s 5000m relay qualifying | Snowboarding – Women’s halfpipe final, men’s halfpipe | Speed Skating – Men’s 1500m | |||
Wednesday, February 14 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Women’s slalom | Biathlon – Women’s 15km individual | Curling – Men’s and women’s round robin | Figure Skating – Pairs short program | Men’s Hockey – Preliminary round: United States vs. Slovenia | Luge – Doubles competition | Snowboarding – Men’s halfpipe final | Speed Skating – Women’s 1000m | |||
Thursday, February 15 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Men’s super-G | Biathlon – Men’s 20km individual | Cross-Country Skiing – Women’s 10km individual | Curling – Men’s and women’s round robin | Figure Skating – Women’s aerials qualifying | Women’s hockey – Preliminary matches include United States vs. Canada | Men’s hockey – Preliminary matches | Luge – Team relay competition | Skeleton – Men’s competition: heat races | Snowboarding – Men’s cross | Speed Skating - Men’s 10,000m |
Friday, February 16 | ||||||||||
Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s 15km individual | Curling – Men’s and women’s round robin | Figure Skating – Men’s short programs | Freestyle Skiing – Women’s aerials final | Men’s Hockey – Preliminary matches include United States vs. Slovakia | Ski Jumping – Men’s large hill qualifying | Snowboarding – Women’s cross | Speed Skating – Women’s 5000m | |||
Saturday, February 17 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Women’s super-G | Biathlon – Women’s 12.5km mass start | Cross-Country Skiing – Women’s 4x5km relay | Curling – Men’s and women’s round robin | Figure Skating – Men’s short program final | Freestyle Skiing – Women’s slopestyle qualifying, final: men’s aerials qualifying | Men’s Hockey – Preliminary matches include United States vs. Canada | Women’s Hockey – Two knockout round matches | Short Track – Men’s 1500m, women’s 1000m | Skeleton – Women’s heat races | Ski Jumping – Men’s large hill |
Sunday, February 18 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Men’s giant slalom | Biathlon – Men’s 15km mass start | Bobsled – Two-man sled heat races | Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s 4x10km relay | Curling – Men’s and Women’s round robin | Freestyle Skiing – Men’s slopestyle qualifying, final: men’s aerials final | Men’s Hockey – Classification matches | Speed Skating – Women’s 500m, men’s team pursuit qualifying | |||
Monday, February 19 | ||||||||||
Two-man heat races | Curling – Men’s and women’s round robin | Figure Skating – Ice dancers | Freestyle Skiing – Women’s halfpipe qualifying | Women’s Hockey – Semifinals | Ski Jumping – Team competition | Snowboarding – Women’s big air qualifying | Speed Skating – Women’s team pursuit qualifying | |||
Tuesday, February 20 | ||||||||||
Biathlon – Mixed relay | Bobsled – Women’s heat races | Curling – Men’s and women’s round robin | Figure Skating – Ice dance, free dance | Freestyle Skiing – Women’s halfpipe final, men’s halfpipe qualifying | Men’s Hockey – Knockout rounds | Women’s Hockey – Classification matches | Nordic Combined – Large hill competition | Short Track – Women’s 1000m qualifying, men’s 500m qualifying, women’s 3000m relay final | ||
Wednesday, February 21 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Women’s downhill | Bobsled – Women’s heat races | Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s and women’s sprint semifinals | Curling – Men’s and women’s round robin | Figure Skating – Ladies short program | Freestyle Skiing – Men’s cross | Men’s Hockey – Quarterfinals | Snowboarding – Men’s big air qualifying | Speed Skating – Men’s and women’s team pursuit finals | ||
Thursday, February 22 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Men’s slalom | Biathlon – Women’s 4x6km relay | Curling – Men’s semifinals | Freestyle Skiing – Men’s halfpipe final | Women’s Hockey – Bronze and gold medal matches | Nordic Combined – Team competition | Short Track – Men’s 500m finals, women’s 1000m finals, men’s 5000m relay | Snowboarding – Men’s and women’s parallel giant slalom qualifying | |||
Friday, February 23 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Women’s alpine combined | Biathlon – Men’s 4x7.7km relay | Curling – Men’s and women’s semifinals | Figure Skating – Ladies free skate | Freestyle Skiing – Women’s cross | Men’s Hockey – Semifinal matches | Snowboarding – Women’s big air final | Speed Skating – Men’s 1000m final | |||
Saturday, February 24 | ||||||||||
Alpine Skiing – Team event | Bobsled – Four-man competition heat races | Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s 50km mass start | Curling – Men’s gold and silver match, women’s bronze match | Men’s Hockey – Bronze medal match | Snowboarding – Men’s big air final, men’s and women’s giant parallel slalom finals | Speed Skating – Men’s and women’s mass start | ||||
Sunday, February 25 | ||||||||||
Bobsled – Four-man heat races | Cross-Country Skiin g- Women’s 30km mass start | Curling – Women’s gold medal match | Figure Skating – Exhibition gala | Men’s Hockey – Gold medal match |
History
The Nordic Games was the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports, and was held at varying intervals between 1901 and 1926. It was organised by Sweden’s Central Association for the Promotion of Sports, and more specifically by Viktor Balck, a member of that association and one of the five original members of the International Olympic Committee.
The first Winter Olympics, the 1924 Winter Olympics, was held in Chamonix, France. The original five sports (broken into nine disciplines) were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing (consisting of the disciplines military patrol, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping), and skating (consisting of the disciplines figure skating and speed skating).
The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948.
Until 1992, the winter and summer Olympic Games were held in the same years, but in accordance with a 1986 decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to place the summer and winter Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years, the next Winter Olympics after 1992 was in 1994.
