The moment we have been waiting for. The moment many athletes have been waiting for!
Per my earlier Facebook post, I’d like to say I called it. In PyeongChang’s opening ceremony titled, “Peace In Motion,” there were memories of the synchronization and polish of Beijing 2008 (the Opening Ceremony which YT and I first bonded over). Of course, PyeongChang made it their own. With a theme of peace and unity, the performers showed their precision and grace, and let us in on South Korean culture. Having recently traveled to South Korea and learned about some of the culture and a lot of history, it was neat to see the show play out with some insight.
Obviously, the big talk was about the South and North Koreans marching into the stadium together. (Note: This was not the first time this happened. The Koreas marched together for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the 2007 Asian Winter Games).
The final legs of the Torch Relay is always a guarded secret, but it came as no surprise that South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim (Gold medallist at Vancouver 2010) lit the Olympic cauldron – after all, she is South Korea’s superstar sweetheart. However, what did come as a pleasant surprise was the fact that the handoff to Kim was from two of Korea’s female hockey players – South Korean Park Jong-Ah and North Korean Jong Su-hyon. Each with a hand on the torch, in sync step for step, they made it to the top of a long, steep set of stairs (maybe a foreshadow that the Korean women’s team will be able to come together quickly as a unit). The selection of these two hockey players had an obvious message.
Other, not-so-subtle messages were made about fair, clean sport, by the IOC.
And, subtle messages were also made, including the selection of Team Canada’s co-flag bearers, Ice Dancers, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. Yes, we love them because they’re fun to watch and they don’t appear to be A-holes, but more importantly, a male and female carried Canada’s flag. Per Air Canada’s Fly The Flag ads, Show The World How.
We’ve heard the feeling is like nothing else, which is why some athletes still show up for the parade after competing earlier in the day! Sleep is for the weak! Amidst all the messages, the athletes are there to have some fun. Some notables:
- Bermuda in Bermuda shorts!
- Tonga’s Pita Taufatofua in … not much. You might remember him from the Rio games. He’s a multisport athlete (Taekwondo at the Rio Summer Olympics, a Cross Country Skier at PyeongChang).
- My favourite part: The drums
A few production notes that might have you talking:
- Drones. You probably didn’t notice it at first. If you see light displays that change shape and look like they are floating, it’s probably a swarm of drones. Drones are becoming a staple in productions such as these.
- Video projection and animation. We see this on our TV screens and hear the commentary. You may wonder what the experience is like in person. If it’s like the Vancouver Olympics opening ceremony it might be something like this: You don’t have commentary, so you don’t necessarily know what is happening on the stage. You later realize that you had a program in your spectator kit the whole time you were sitting there. It includes some explanation of the features of the show, but not in the same detail as you’d hear on TV. Also, it is probably plastic wrapped for protection, so you wouldn’t look at it until you got home!
- We didn’t see K-Pop superstars, BTS, this time around, but let’s cross our fingers for the closing ceremonies.
Special shout-outs to all the nations of my family:
- One South African Alpine Skier
- One Maltese Alpine Skier
- One Singaporean Speed Skater
- One Hong Kong Alpine Skier
- 116 Swedish athletes
- Too many to count US Athletes
- And, of course, Team Canada, with their largest contingent yet
Get ready, World. The Games are on!