Sports
Highlights From The 2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
“Gangnam Style”, the shirtless Tongan flagbearer, and more.
The 2018 Winter Olympics officially began Friday night in Pyeongchang, South Korea with the opening ceremony. This year’s Winter Olympics is the biggest in history, with 92 countries and over 2,900 athletes competing. Last night’s opening ceremonies caused a buzz on social media, with some interesting occurrences happening during the ceremonies. So here are some of the events that sparked the greatest interest.
Vice President Mike Pence Sat Near Kim Jong Un’s Sister
Pence and Kim Yo Jong were seated in close proximity to each other during the opening ceremonies. Pence was aware of his seating placement, and his aide said that he didn’t have any concerns regarding the seating arrangements. Kim Yo Jong’s appearance at the event is historical in itself, as she is the first member of the ruling dynasty of North Korea to visit South Korea since 1953. In other Pence headlines, he also didn’t stand for the Korean Olympic delegation during the ceremony.
Vice President Mike Pence is sitting only a few feet away from Kim Yo Jong, who is the very powerful sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un during the winter Olympics #OpeningCeremony in South Korea. The two don’t appear to have spoken to each other. pic.twitter.com/ZyZwFYou1W
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) February 9, 2018
Tongan Flagbearer Pita Taufatofua Went Shirtless- Again
After being eliminated in the first round of taekwondo during the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, Taufatofua decided to pick up a new sport- cross-country skiing and ended up qualifying for this year’s Winter Olympics. He, of course, carried the flag for Tonga and became a hit on the internet once again.
Welp, Tonga just won all the medals shut it down, you can all go home. #Olympics
— katie (@katie_stp) February 10, 2018
Team USA Walked Out To “Gangnam Style”
A few Olympic Teams were lucky enough to be able to walk out to “Gangnam Style” being played in the stadium, and Team USA was one of them. Team USA had a lot of fun with it, as it’s been a popular song ever since it’s release in 2012. Team USA also has the largest contingent of athletes, with 242 competing in the Olympics.
I didn’t know I needed to see our nation’s very greatest human specimens and also mike pence set to gangnam style and yet here we are
— Claire McNear (@claire_mcnear) February 9, 2018
.@TeamUSA walking out to Gangam Style was best possible thing that could’ve happened at the #OpeningCeremony #CantMissMoments 😂🙌🏼🏆🇺🇸🇰🇷 pic.twitter.com/9O9oRqZlXr
— Matt Williamson (@mattcwill) February 9, 2018
The Winter Olympics are going on now until February 25th and can be watched on NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and the Olympic Channel.
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