Pyeongchang Paralympics Closing Ceremony

The Pyeongchang Paralympics came to an end with a superb closing ceremony which opened with an array of Bandabi mascots at centre stage counting down to a fireworks display.

A montage of skiing, snowboarding, curling and ice hockey led to the introduction of the officials from Korea and the IPC. The Korean flag was araded into the arena by a number of the host countries athletes.

The entertainment began with a superb signing performance before a rock/jazz rendition accompanied by hundreds of dancers. Following this was an upbeat dance track to greet the entrance of the athletes, which incuded golden girls Menna Fitzpatrick and Jen Kehoe carrying the flag for ParalympicsGB. 

A presentation followed to Dr Whang Youn Dai for her amazing contribution to Paralympic sport by former winners of the award which bears her name, each Paralympics sees two atheltes awarded and this year saw Adam Hall (NZL) and Sini Pyy (FIN).

Next up was an inspirational ballet performance at centre stage with the ballerina soon accompanied by several dancers to a background of string music with a 'Bond-esque' tone which was followed by a stunning operatic solo.

The Paralympic flag was lowered before centre stage saw a clever mix of dance and colour with able and disabled dancers promoting the next Paralympics of Beijing 2022. The speeches from the Korean delegate and IPC president saw the games officially closed.

The Paralympic flame was extinguished ahead of a stint from Korean singer Ailee as she lit up the stadium with a stunning party-style performance which literally saw the stadium bouncing. 

A superb way to close the 2018 Winter Olympic/Paralympic posts, the blog will go into the usual two year hiatus before resuming with the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics/Paralympics.

Pyeongchang Paralympics Days Eight and Nine

Day Eight saw a huge amount of medal events and the review will start with Alpine Skiing, the Men's Slalom - Visually Impaired saw Italian duo Giacomo Bertagnolli and his guide Fabrizio Casal finish ahead of Jakub Krako and his guide Branislav Brozman (SVK) who secured silver and Valeri Redkozubov and his guide Evgeny Geroev (NPA) who collected bronze.  The Men's Slalom- Standing saw gold won by New Zealand's Adam Hall as he took the title ahead of Arthur Bauchet (FRA) who collected silver and Jamie Stanton (USA) who claimed bronze. The Men's Slalom - Sitting was won by Dino Sokolovic as he took the gold ahead of Tyler Walker (USA) and Frederic Francois (FRA) who collected silver and bronze. 

Over in Cross-Country Skiing, the Men's 10km Classic, Visually Impaired was won by Canadian's Brian McKeever and his guide Graham Nishikawa while Jake Adicoff and his guide Sawyer Kesselheim (USA) secured silver and Yury Holub and his guide Dzmitry Budzilovich (BLR) claimed bronze. The Women's 7.5km Classic - Visually Impaired saw gold won by Sviatlana Sakhanenka and her guide Raman Yashchanka (BLR) as they finished ahead of Mikhalina Lysova and her guide Alexey Ivanov (NPA) who secured silver while Carina Edlinger and her guide Julian Edlinger (AUT) earned bronze.

The Men's 10km Classic-Standing saw gold won by Yoshihiro Nitta (JPN) with Grygorii Vovchynskyi (UKR) sealing silver and Mark Arendz (CAN) taking bronze. A 1st/3rd for Canada in the Women's 7.5km Standing as Natalie Wilkie won gold and Emily Young battled for bronze behind Ekaterina Rumyantseva (NPA) who collected silver. Gold for host nation South Korea as Sin Eui Hyun won the Men's 7.5km - Sitting ahead of Daniel Cnossen (USA) who claimed silver and Maksym Yarovyi (UKR) who earned bronze. The Women's 5km - Sitting saw another gold of the games for Oksana Masters (USA) as she finished ahead of Andrea Eskau (GER) who sealed silver and Marta Zainullina (NPA) who collected bronze.

The first medal of the games in Para Hockey went to the hosts South Korea as they defeated Italy to claim the bronze medal while in Wheelchair Curling, South Korea missed out on a medal as they lost 5-3 to Canada who took the bronze. The gold medal match saw a closely run battle as China edged a 6-5 win over Norway who took the silver. 

Day Nine

An historic day for ParalympicsGB as the duo of Menna Fitzpatrick and guide Jen Kehoe became GB's most decorated Winter Paralympians as they took gold in the Women's Slalom - Visually Impaired, there was more joy as compatriots Millie Knight and guide Brett Wild claimed bronze while Henrieta Farkasova and guide Natalia Subrtova (SVK) collected silver. 

Gold for Marie Bochet (FRA) in the Women's Slalom - Standing as she finished ahead of Mollie Jepsen (CAN) who secured silver and Andrea Rothfuss (GER) who earned bronze. The Women's Slalom -Sitting saw gold for Anna-Lena Forster (GER) with Momoka Muroka (JPN) claiming silver and Heike Eder (AUT) collecting bronze. Over in Cross-Country Skiing, gold for Ukraine in the 4x2.5km Mixed Relay with Canada taking silver and Germany collecting bronze. The 4x2.5km Open Relay saw France take gold ahead of Norway and Canada who collected silver and bronze. 

A superb Para Hockey final saw a narrow 2-1 win for USA as they took gold leaving Canada to collect silver.

Pyeongchang Paralympics Days Four-Seven

Day Four saw success for ParalympicsGB as Menna Fitpatrick and her guide Jen Kehoe collected silver in the Women's Super Combined Slalom - Visually Impaired with compatriots Millie Knight (Guide- Brett Wild) and Kelly Gallagher (Guide- Gary Smith) placing fourth and seventh. Gold went to Henrieta Farkasova (SVK) and her guide Natalia Subrtova and bronze to Melissa Perrine (AUS) and her guide Christian Geiger.

The Men's event saw Miroslav Haraus (SVK) and his guide Maros Hudik taking gold ahead of Yon Santacana Maiztegui (ESP) and his guide Miguel Galindo Garces while Valerii Redkozubov (NPA) and his guide Evgeny Geroev collected bronze.  The Women's Super Combined Slalom - Standing saw gold and bronze for Canadian duo Mollie Jepsen and Alana Ramsey with Andrea Rothfuss (GER) securing silver.

The Men's event saw gold for the Neutral Paralympics Athletes as Aleksei Bugaev won ahead of Arthur Bauchet (FRA) who claimed silver and Adam Hall (AUS) who earned bronze. A 1-2 for Germany in the Women's Super Combined Slalom-Sitting with Anna-Lena Forster taking gold and Anna Schaffelhuber securing silver, bronze went to Momoka Muraoka (JPN).

The Men's event saw Jeroen Kampschreur (NED) winning gold ahead of Frederic Francois (FRA) who secured silver and Jesper Pedersen (NOR) who earned bronze. Over in Biathlon, gold for Ukrainian duo Oksana Shyshkova and her guide Vitaly Kazakov in the Women's 10km - Visually Impaired ahead of silver for Mikhakina Lysova (NPA) and her guide Alexey Ivanov while Clara Klug (GER) and her guide Martin Hartl claimed bronze.

The Men's 12.5km - Visually Impaired saw Yury Holub (BLR) and his guide Dzmitry Budzilovich taking gold ahead of a 2/3 for Ukraine with Oleksandr Kazik and his guide Sergiy Kucheryaviy collecting silver while Iurii Utkin and his guide Ruslan Perekhoda earning bronze. Double joy for Neutral Paralympic Athletes as the duo of Marta Zainullina and Irina Guliaeva claimed silver and bronze as Andrea Eskau (GER) won gold.

The Men's 12.5km - Sitting saw gold claimed by Taras Rad (UKR) while Daniel Cnossen and Andrew Soule collected silver and bronze for USA. A 1-2 for the Neutral Paralympic Athletes in the Women's 10km - Standing as Ekaterina Rumyantseva and Anna Milenina won gold and silver with Liudmyla Liashenko (UKR) claiming bronze. The Men's 12.5km Standing saw gold won by Benjamin Daviet (FRA) with Ihor Reptyukh (UKR) securing silver and Mark Arendz (CAN) collecting bronze.

Day Five

Another successful day for ParalympicsGB as Menna Fitpatrick and her guide Jen Kehoe collected silver in the Women's Giant Slalom - Visually Impaired with compatriots Kelly Gallagher (Guide- Gary Smith) and Millie Knight (Guide- Brett Wild) placing fifth and seventh. Gold went to Henrieta Farkasova (SVK) and her guide Natalia Subrtova and bronze to Melissa Perrine (AUS) and her guide Christian Geiger. The Men's event saw gold won by Italian duo Giacomo Bertagnolli and his guide Fabrizio Casal while Jakub Krako and his guide Branislav Brozman (SVK) collected silver with Mac Marcoux and his guide Jack Leitch (CAN) earned bronze. 

The Women's Giant Slalom - Standing saw gold won by Marie Bochet (FRA) with Andrea Rothfuss (GER) securing silver and Mollie Jepsen (CAN) collecting bronze. The Men's event saw gold won by Theo Gmur (SUI) with Aleksei Bugaev (NPA) collecting silver and Alexis Guimond (CAN) earning bronze.  Gold for Japan's Momoka Muraoka in the Women's Giant Slalom- Sitting, Linda Van Impelen (NED) claimed silver while Claudia Loersch (CAN) took bronze.

The Men's event saw Jesper Pedersen (NOR) win gold ahead of Tyler Walker (USA) and Igor Sikorski (POL). 

Over in Cross Country Skiing, a 1st/3rd for USA in the Men's 1.1km Sprint -Sitting as Andrew Soule won gold and Daniel Cnossen claiming bronze sandwiching a silver for Dzmitry Loban (BLR). The Women's event saw gold also go to the USA as Oksana Masters won ahead of Andrea Eskau (GER) who claimed silver and Marta Zainullina (NPA) who earned bronze. Four medals were awarded in the Men's 1.5km Sprint Classic - Standing as Alexandr Kolyadin (KAZ) won gold ahead of Yoshihiro Nitta (JPN) who secured silver while Ilkka Tuomisto (FIN) and Mark Arendz (CAN) shared bronze. 

The Women's event saw gold for Anna Milenina (NPA) as she finished ahead of Vilde Nilsen (NOR) and Natalie Wilkie (CAN) who claimed bronze. The Men's 1.5km Sprint Classic - Visually Impaired saw gold won by Brian McKeever (CAN) ahead of Zebastian Modin (SWE) who claimed silver and Eirik Bye and his guide Arvid Nelson (NOR) who earned bronze. The Women's event saw gold won by Sviatlana Sakhanenka (BLR) as she finished ahead of Mikhalina Lysova (NPA) who secured silver and Oksana Shyshkova (UKR) who collected bronze.

Days Six/Seven

There were no medal events on day six but day seven made up for the gap with a raft of medals won beginning with the Women's 12.5km -Sitting as Andrea Eskau (GER) won gold ahead of Oksana Masters (USA) who secured silver and Lidziya Hrafeyeva (BLR) who earned bronze. The Men's 15km - Sitting also saw gold go to Germany as Martin Fleig finished ahead of Daniel Cnossen (USA) and Colin Cameron (CAN) who took silver and bronze. A 1-2 for NPA in the Women's 12.5km - Standing  as Anna Milenina and Ekaterina Rumyantseva  won gold and silver ahead of Brittany Hudak (CAN ) who claimed bronze. The Men's 15km - Standing saw Mark Arendz (CAN) win gold ahead of Benjamin Daviet (FRA) who secured silver and Nils-Erik Ulset (NOR) who collected bronze.

Another gold for NPA came in the Women's 12.5km - Visually Impaired as Mikhalina Lysova and her guide Alexey Ivanov finished ahead of Oksana Shyshkova and her guide Vitaly Kazakov (UKR) who claimed silver while Clara Klug and her guide Martin Hartl (GER) collected bronze. The Men's 15km- Visually Impaired saw a 1-2 for Ukraine as Vitaliy Luk'yanenko and his guide Ivan Marchyshak took gold ahead of Oleksandr Kazik and his guide Sergiy Kucheryaviy who secured silver while Anthony Chalencon and his guide Simon Valverde (FRA) earned bronze.

Over in Snowboarding, gold for USA in the Women's Banked Slalom-SBLL1 as Brenna Huckaby finished ahead of Cecile Hernandez (FRA) who secured silver and Amy Purdy (USA) who collected bronze. The Men's event saw a 1-2 for USA as Noah Elliot won gold and Mike Schultz took silver while Bruno Bosnjak (CRO) earned bronze. A 1st/3rd for Netherlands in the Women's Banked Slalom-SBLL2 as Bibian Mentel-Spee won gold and Lisa Bunschoten took bronze sandwiching the silver collected by Brittani Coury (USA). 

The Men's event saw Gurimu Narita (JPN) win gold ahead of Evan Strong (USA) who secured silver and Matti Suur-Hamari (FIN) who collected bronze.  A third gold of the day for USA came in the Men's Banked Slalom - SB-UL as Mike Minor won ahead of Patrick Mayrhofer (AUT) who claimed silver and Simon Patmore (AUS).

Pyeongchang Paralympics Days Two and Three

Day two opened with double joy for ParalympicsGB as Mille Knight (Guide-Brett Wild) and Menna Fitzpatrick (Guide- Jen Kehoe) claimed silver and bronze in the Women's Super-G Visually Impaired with Henrieta Farkasova (SVK) (Guide- Natalia Subrtova) taking the gold. 

The Men's event saw gold also taken by Slovakia with Jakub Krako (Guide- Branislav Brozman) winning while Giacomo Bertagnolli (ITA) (Guide- Fabrizio Casal) collected silver and Miroslav Haraus (SVK) (Guide- Maros Hudik) claiming bronze. 

In the Women's Super-G Standing, Marie Bochet (FRA) won gold ahead of Andrea Rothfuss (GER) who collected silver and Alana Ramsay (CAN) who earned bronze. The Men's event saw gold claimed by Theo Gmur (SUI) while Arthur Bauchet (FRA) secured silver and Markus Salcher (AUT) battled for bronze.

Gold for Germany's Anna Schaffelhuber in the Women's Super-G Sitting as she won ahead of Claudia Loesch (AUT) who took silver while Momoka Muraoka (JPN) collected bronze. The Men's event saw gold won by Canadian skier Kurt Oatway ahead of Andrew Kurka (USA) who collected silver and Frederic Francois (FRA) earning bronze.

Over in Cross Country Skiing, Gold for Ukraine's Maksym Yarovyi in the Men's 15km-Sitting with Daniel Cnossen (USA) securing silver and Sin Eui Hyun (KOR) earning bronze. The Women's 12km- Sitting saw double joy for the USA with Kendall Gretsch taking gold and Oksana Masters the bronze sandwiching the silver won by Andrea Eskau (GER).

Day Three

Day three's medals began with a 1-2 for USA in the Women's Snowboard Cross SB-LL1 with Brenna Huckaby winning gold and Amy Purdy securing silver while Cecile Hernandez (FRA) took bronze. The SB LL2 event saw a 1-2 for Netherlands as Bibian Mentel-Spee won gold ahead of Lisa Bunschoten while Astrid Fina Paredes (ESP) collected bronze.

Gold for Simon Patmore (AUS) in the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-UL as he finished ahead of Manuel Pozzerle (ITA) who took silver and Mike Minor (USA) who claimed bronze. The SB LL1 event saw a 1/3 for USA with Mike Schultz winning gold and Noah Elliot the bronze while Chris Vos (NED) secured silver. Gold for Finland's Matti Suur-Hamari in the SB-LL2 event ahead of Keith Gabel (USA) who collected silver and Gurimu Narita (JPN) who earned bronze.

Over in Cross Country Skiing, gold for Ihor Reptyukh (UKR) in the Men's 20km Free - Standing ahead of Benjamin Daviet (FRA) who secured silver and Hakon Olsrud (NOR) who earned bronze. A 1-2 for Neutral Paralympic Athletes in the Women's 15km Free- Standing as Ekaterina Rumyantseva won gold and Anna Milenina took silver ahead of Liudmyia Liashenko (UKR) who collected bronze. 

The Men's 20km Free- Visually Impaired saw Brian McKeever (CAN) win gold ahead of Yury Holub and guide Dzmitry Budzilovich (BLR) who secured silver and Thomas Clarion (Guide- Antoine Bollet) (FRA) who collected bronze. The Women's 15km Free- Visually Impaired saw gold won by Sviatlana Sakhanenka (Guide- Raman Yashchanka) (BLR) ahead of Oksana Shyshkova (Guide- Vitaly Kazakov) (UKR) who secured silver and Mikhalina Lysova (Guide- Alexey Ivanov) (NPA) who earned bronze.

Pyeongchang Paralympics Day One

A delayed review of the opening day begins with early joy for ParalympicsGB with as Millie Knight and her guide Brett Wild claimed silver in the Women's Downhill - Visually Impaired with Henrieta Farkasova and her guide Natalia Surbotova (SVK) taking the gold and Eleonor Sana and her guide Chloe Sana (BEL) collecting bronze. The Men's event saw Mac Marcoux and his guide Jack Leitch (CAN) winning gold ahead of Jakub Krako and his guide Branislav Brozman (SVK) who took silver and Giacomo Bertagnolli and his guide Fabrizio Casal (ITA) who collected bronze.

Continuing on Alpine Skiing, the Women's Downhill-Standing saw gold won by Marie Bochet (FRA) with Andrea Rothfuss (GER) securing silver and Mollie Jepsen (CAN) earning bronze. The Men's event saw gold for Theo Gmur (SUI) ahead of Arthur Bauchet (FRA) who collected silver and Marcus Salcher (AUT) who took bronze.

Gold for Germany's Anna Schaffelhuber in the Women's Downhill - Sitting with Momoka Muraoka (JPN) taking silver and Laurie Stephens (USA) collecting bronze. The Men's event saw gold won by Andrew Kurka (USA) with Taiki Morii (JPN) taking silver and Corey Peters (NZL) collecting bronze.

Moving onto Biathlon, the Women's 6km Sitting saw a 1-2 for USA as Kendall Gretsch took gold and Oksana Masters collecting silver while Lidziya Hrafeyeva (BLR) claimed bronze. In the Men's 7.5km - Standing, gold went to Benjamin Daviet (FRA) ahead of Mark Arendz (CAN) who secured silver and Ihor Reptyukh (UKR) who took bronze.

The Women's 6km- Visually Impaired saw gold won by Mikhalina Lysova and her guide Alexey Ivanov (NPA), Oksana Shyshkova and her guide Vitaly Kazakov (UKR) claimed silver while Sviatlana Sakahanenka and her guide Raman Yashchanka (BLR) earned bronze. The Men's 7.5km- Visually Impaired saw a 1st and 3rd for Ukraine as Vitaly Luk'Yanenko and his guide Ivan Marchyshak winning gold with Anatolii Kovalevskyi  and his guide Oleksandr Mukshyn claiming bronze while Yury Holub and his guide Dzmitry Budzilovich (BLR) collected silver.

Pyeongchang Paralympics Opening Ceremony

After a superb Winter Olympics last month, the Winter Paralympics were officially opened today with a glittering opening ceremony.

A record 567 athletes will compete across nine days of competition including a Paralympics GB team of 17 who had snowboarder Owen Pick as flagbearer during the ceremony which featured Korean dance,music and light displays.

Unlike the Olympic ceremony, Korea walked in to the parade as separate entities but were unified during the procession of the Paralympic flame with North and South Korean athletes held the flame aloft ahead of the final relay.  

After the athletes parade, the ceremony sprung into life with flashes of colour focusing around illuminated fish, children on sleds and boats and a clever skateboarding routine from games mascot Bandabi. One of the highlights of the event saw a 'Para Boat' raised into the air to the backdrop of K-Pop. Following the lighting of the flame, there was further renditions of K-pop and the ceremony was complete.

Day one of competition will see a raft of medals with hopes of a good start towards Paralympics GB's target of seven.

Pyeongchang 2018 Closing Ceremony

Pyeongchang 2018 began its goodbyes with a vibrant and colourful opening sequence featuring the five colours of the opening ceremony showcased by skiers and skaters.

The performances ended with the forming of the Olympic rings and a firework display before the dignitaries, IOC president and Korean President were introduced to the crowd. The national flag of Korea was paraded into the arena by young Korean students before the national anthem was sung.

Next up, a rock-style cover of Vivaldi's Four Seasons featuring Tron-style dancers ahead of a huge orchestra in centre stage who wowed the arena. A montage of event highlights played before the mass parade of flag-bearers with GB's representative being Big Air bronze medallist Billy Morgan.

Following this was the parade of athletes and unlike previous years, they were grouped in countries rather than a mixed parade. A superb display above the arena as lights lit up in the form of the games' mascot and a heart. The next section entitled 'The Journey of Life' saw a floral pattern embrace the arena floor centering around a Turtle which glowed in purple and gold.

A holographic Turtle journeyed through the land and sea in a stunningly graphic display before the final medal ceremonies of the games, the Women's 30km and Men's 50km Mass Start Classics. Gold for Norway's Marit Bjoergen as she extended her reign as the most decorated Winter Olympian, silver going to Krista Parmakoski (FIN) and bronze for Stina Nilsson (SWE).

The Men's 50km Mass Start (Classic) ceremony saw gold awarded to Iivo Niskanen (FIN) with silver going to Alexander Bolshunov (OAR) and  bronze collected by Andrey Larkov (OAR). The 'Movement of Time' followed with a trance-style dance routine. A ceremony to induct new members of the Athletes Committee saw two new electives while the volunteers were represented in stage and thanked for the contribution.

The entertainment portion continued with a performance from K-Pop sensation CL before the Greek and Olympic anthems with the latter sung superbly by a young singer who won the Korea version of The Voice.  Next up was the ceremony for the transferring of the Olympic flag from Pyeongchang to Beijing.

A stellar dance routine full of light and colour mixing in an awesome spectrum followed ahead of a central formation depicting the faces of the games and the Olympic Rings and a montage of the logos of Winter Olympics from the past led to a crescendo with a welcome from Beijing for the 2022 games counting up across the previous Winter Olympic host nations in excellent style.

The speeches followed from the President of the Pyeongchang 2018 organising committee and IOC President, Thomas Bach which ended with him presenting with fellow Athletes such as Martin Fourcade, Lindsey Vonn and topless Tongan athlete Pita Taufatofua, hearts to Korea as the games closed.

A stunning musical performance followed from EXO and the revealing of a large Snowglobe in the centre of the arena with clips of games events circling it. This led to a farewell to the Olympic flame which slowly extinguished while the arena centre displayed a large snowflake.

The celebration began led by DJ Raiden as Athletes joined in on the arena floor before Martin Garrix took over on the decks before a huge firework display closed what has been an amazing Winter Olympics which has seen new horizons. The blog now takes a short break until the start of the Paralympics which begin on March 9th. 

Pyeongchang 2018 Days 14/15/16 Review

Day 14 saw a  first gold for the Olympic Athletes from Russia as Alina Zagitova claimed gold in the Women's Single Figure Skating, the 15-year-old finished ahead of compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva who claimed silver while Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN) took bronze.

A superb afternoon of competition in the Women's Ski Cross saw Kelsey Serwa (CAN) claiming gold ahead of compatriot Brittany Phelan who collected silver and Fanny Smith (SUI) who earned bronze, GB's hopes of a medal ended in the quarter finals in the form of Emily Sarsfield. 

A second gold of the game for Kjeld Nuis (NED) as he won the Men's 1000m Speed Skating final and in doing so became just the third man to complete the 1000m/1500m double. Silver went to Havard Lorentzen (NOR) with Kim Tae-Yun (KOR) taking bronze. Gold for Sweden in the Men's 4x7.5km Biathlon Relay as they held off Norway who took silver and Germany who claimed bronze. Switzerland secured bronze in the Men's Curling as they wrapped up a 7-5 win over Canada, the other two medals will be decided on day 15 as Sweden face the USA.

Day 15

Joy for GB as Billy Morgan claimed bronze in the Men's Snowboarding Big Air, his medal proved to be an historic one as it saw GB reach five medals in the Winter Olympics for the first time. The gold went to Sebastien Toutant (CAN) while Kyle Mack (USA) claimed silver. However, five medals for GB was where it ended after heartbreak for the Women's Curling team, skip Eve Muirhead had the final stone to win bronze but saw her effort miscue in the house giving a 5-3 win and the bronze to Japan.

A record 38th medal at a Winter Olympics for Norway as they claimed bronze in the inaugural Alpine Skiing Mixed Team event, Switzerland took gold while Austria collected silver. Ester Ledecka (CZE) created history as she became the first woman to take two titles in different sports at a single Winter Olympics as she added the Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom to here Super-G title won earlier in the games. Selina Jorg (GER) took silver behind the 22-year-old while Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (SUI) collected bronze. 

In the Men's Event, Nevin Galmarini (SUI) claimed gold ahead of Lee Sangho (KOR) who claimed silver while Zan Kosir (SLO) took bronze. A first Winter Olympic title for Iivo Niskanen (FIN) as he won gold in the Men's 50km Cross Country Skiing Mass Start ahead of Alexander Bulshunov (OAR) who collected silver and his compatriot Andrey Larkov who took bronze.

After recording a shock win over Canada, USA won gold in the Men's Curling as they defeated Sweden 10-7 and with Switzerland claiming bronze the previous day, it meant Canada missed out on a medal in the competition for the first time. Gold for Nana Takagi (JPN) in the Women's Speed Skating Mass Start ahead of Kim Bo-reum (KOR) who took silver with Irene Schouten (NED) collecting bronze.

The men's equivalent saw the host nation take gold as Lee Seung-hoon took the title,Bart Swings (BEL) earning silver while Koen Verweij (NED) claimed bronze. Bronze for Canada in the Men's Ice Hockey as they wrapped up a 6-4 win over Czech Republic. 

Day 16

Norway ensured they would top the final medal table as Marit Bjorgen won gold in the Women's Cross-Country Skiing 30km Mass Start Classic as she completed a clean sweep by winning a medal in every event she competed in, silver went to Krista Parmakoski (FIN) with Stina Nilsson (SWE) taking bronze. 

Sweden eased to gold in the Women's Curling as they defeated South Korea 8-3 while Germany secured a 1-2 finish in the Four-man Bobsleigh with South Korea claiming the bronze, Germany claimed another silver as they suffered a 4-3 defeat to Olympic Athletes from Russia who took gold in the Men's Ice Hockey.

Pyeongchang 2018 Day Thirteen

Day 13 proved to be unlucky for some as in the early hours, GB's hopes in Men's Curling ended with a 9-5 loss to Switzerland made worse by the fact that GB went from 4-1 ahead to 4-4 before taking a 5-4 lead going into End nine. An end that will live long in the story of the games as a poor one for GB as they gave away a five to the Swiss leaving a pointless final end and a loss in the tie-break. 

Dave Riding missed out on a medal in the Men's Slalom as he finished ninth with fellow Brit skier Laurie Taylor placing 26th, gold went to Andre Myhrer (SWE) he became the oldest winner of the event while Ramon Zenhaeusern (SUI) took silver and Michael Matt (AUT) collected bronze. In the Women's Alpine Combined, gold for Michelle Gisin (SUI) with Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) collecting silver and Wendy Holdener (SUI) claiming bronze. 

A successful title defence for David Wise (USA) in the Men's Ski Halfpipe as he claimed gold ahead of compatriot Alex Ferreira who took silver and Nico Porteous (NZL) who collected an unexpected bronze. A tight finish in the Women's Big Air with Anna Gasser (AUT) claiming gold with the final jump to push Jamie Anderson (USA) into silver while Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL) collected bronze at the age of just 16.

A first ever Winter Olympic title for Hungary as they won gold in the Men's 5000m Short-Track Relay, China claimed silver while Canada took bronze. A clean sweep in the Nordic Combined for Germany as the quartet of Vincenz Geiger, Fabian Riessle, Eric Frenzel and Johannes Rydzek eased to gold in the Large Hill Team Relay. Norway claimed the silver after finishing 527 second behind the Germans while Austria took bronze.

A world record for Wu Dajiing (CHN) in the Men's 500m Short Track Skating as he claimed the nation's first gold of the games ahead a 2-3 for the host nation South Korea as  Hwang Dae-heon took silver and Lim Hyo-jun collected bronze. Gold for Suzanne Schulting (NED) in the Women's 1000m Short Track Skating which saw Kim Boutin (CAN) collect silver and Arianna Fontana (ITA) earning bronze.

A fourth Winter Olympic title for Darya Domracheva as part of the quartet of Nadezhda Skardino, Iryna Kryuko and Dzinara Alimbekava for Belarus who won gold in the Women's Biathlon Relay. Silver went to Sweden who finished 10.7 seconds behind the Belorussians while France finished a further 6.9 seconds behind to collect bronze.

Pyeongchang 2018 Day Twelve

Day 12 alike the previous day saw mixed results on the GB front, Bobsled duo Mica McNeill and Mica Moore finished eighth which was even more special given their finances for the games were crowdfunded after the national body failed to help them. The medallists for the event saw Mariama Jamanka/Lisa Buckwitz (GER) claimed gold ahead of Elana Meyers Taylor/Lauren Gibbs (USA) who claimed silver and Kaillie Humphries/Phylicia George (CAN) taking bronze.

Out on the slopes, Billy Morgan secured a place in the Men's Big Air final finishing the heat in sixth place, compatriots Jamie Nicholls and Rowan Coultas missed out on the final. Joy for the women's rink in Curling with skip Eve Muirhead guaranteeing semi-final spot with a stunning final end which saw GB end defending champions Canada's hopes with a 6-5 win.The men face another match though as after losing 10-4 to USA, their hopes of an automatic spot were dashed leaving them to face Switzerland in a tie-break clash early on day 13.

Gold for Brady Leman (CAN) as he upgraded his fourth placed finish from 2014 in the Men's Ski Cross, silver went to Marc Bischofberger (SUI) with Sergey Ridzik (OAR) claiming bronze despite crashing early in the race. Sofia Goggia won gold in the Women's Downhill to become the first Italian to win the title, Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel collected silver while Lindsey Vonn (USA) took bronze. 

A landmark medal for Finland's Riikka Valila as she became the oldest Olympian to medal in Ice Hockey as the Finns claimed bronze with a 3-2 win over Olympic Athletes from Russia. The gold medal match between Canada and USA takes place on day 14. A shock win in the Women's Speed Skating Team Pursuit as Japan set a new Winter Olympic record to stun defending champions Netherlands who took silver while in the B final, USA eased to bronze over Canada. The men's event saw Norway take gold after stunning hosts South Korea who took silver with Netherlands collected bronze. 

Another historic medal came in the Women's Team Sprint Free as Marit Bjorgen became the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time as she picked up bronze with Norway to take her total to 14. The event saw USA win gold with Sweden collecting bronze.The Men's Team Sprint Free saw gold for Norway as Johannes Hosflot Klaebo picked up his third goal medal with Olympic Athletes from Russia collecting silver and France claiming bronze.

Pyeongchang 2018 Day Eleven

Day 11 proved to be a mixed one on the GB front with no medals but some good finishes starting with Rowan Cheshire finishing seventh in the Women's Ski Halfpipe final which was won by Cassie Sharpe (CAN), Marie Martinod (FRA) took silver while Brita Sigourney (USA) claimed bronze. The duo of Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland finished 11th in the Ice Dance which saw Canadian pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir taking the gold, Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) earning silver while bronze went to the siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani (USA).

After missing out in her previous two events, Elise Christie saw her hopes of a first Olympic medal dashed as she was disqualified in the heats of the 1000m Speed Skating, starting with an injury, she fell at the start via a trip but finished the restart in second before being yellow carded for two infringements. 

Over in Curling, both rinks took a step closer to the semi-finals, the women claimed an 8-6 win over Japan while the men eased to a 10-3 win over Norway inside eight ends. GB bobsled duo Mica McNeill and Mica Moore sit sixth after the first half of the competition with a gap of just 0.46 behind the leading pair of Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs (USA).

A world record in the Women's 3000m Short-Track Speed Skating Relay from Netherlands saw them claim only bronze, they only made the B final yet out paced all of those in the A final with two teams disqualified leaving South Korea with gold and Italy with silver. Martin Fourcade became France's most decorated Olympian by anchoring his side to gold in the Biathlon Mixed Relay, Norway collected silver with Italy claiming bronze. 

Pyeongchang 2018 Days Eight/Nine/Ten

A busy weekend at home has meant a three-day summary for Pyeonchang 2018 in one post starting with day eight which some dubbed as 'Super Saturday' for GB. The day began with a first British medal on skis as Izzy Atkin claimed bronze behind Swiss duo Sarah Hoefflin and Mathilde Gremaud in the Women's Slopestyle, fellow Brit, Katie Summerhayes finished seventh.

Double success in the Women's Skeleton for GB as Lizzy Yarnold successfully defended her title from 2014 to become the first Briton to retain a Winter Games title, Germany's Jacqueline Loelling claimed bronze ahead of GB's Laura Deas who on here Olympic debut collected the bronze. The medal haul meant that GB had won three individuals medals on a single day for the first time, eclipsing the two won in 1924. Mixed fortunes in Curling with the women's rink beating Denmark 7-6 before losing out 7-4 to South Korea whose men's team also handed a loss to GB with an 11-5 score.

Elsewhere, Ester Ledecka (CZE) raced to a surprise gold in the Women's Super-G with a 0.01s win over defending champion Anna Veith (AUT) while Tina Weirather (LIE) claimed the bronze. In the Men's Figure Skating, Yuzuru Hanyu  (JPN) became the first man since 1952 to defend the title as he claimed gold ahead compatriot Shoma Uno who took silver and Javier Fernandez (SPA) who collected the bronze.

Norway won gold in the Women's 4x5km Relay which meant Marit Bjorgen equalled the record for most decorated Winter Olympian with compatriot Ole Einar Bjorndalen, Sweden claimed silver while Olympic Athletes from Russia collected bronze. World record holder Choi Min-jeong (KOR) won gold in the Women's 1500m Short-Track final finishing ahead of Li Jinyu (CHN) who took silver and Kim Boutin (CAN) who claimed bronze.

Gold for Samuel Girard (CAN) in the Men's 1000m Speed Skating while John-Henry Krueger (USA) earned silver and Seo Yira (KOR) claimed bronze. Joy for Polish ski jumper Kamil Stoch as he retained his Large Individual title, Andrea Wellinger (GER) claimed silver while Robert Johansson (NOR) took bronze. 

Day Nine

After the success of day eight, GB's medal hopes saw James Woods just missing out as he finished fourth in the Men's Ski Slopestyle as Oystein Braaten (NOR) won gold, Nick Goepper (USA) collected silver and Alex Beaulieu-Marchand (CAN) who took the bronze. 

GB's two-man bobsled sat seventh after their first two runs while there was controversy for the GB women in Curling as they lost 8-6 to Sweden in an extra end after the final stone from skip Eve Muirhead was let go after the hog line leaving the shot void. The Men had better luck as they secured a 7-6 win over Italy with the tie also going to an extra end with skip Kyle Smith scoring the vital point.

A second gold for the games for Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher as he won the Men's Giant Slalom with Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) taking silver and Alexis Pinturault (FRA) collecting bronze. Norway put on a skiing masterclass as they won the Men's 4x10km Relay with Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo leading the way, Olympic Athletes from Russia claimed silver while France took bronze.

In the Men's Aerials Freestyle, gold for Oleksandr Abramenko (UKR) as he scored 128.51 points in the final to finish ahead of Jia Zongyang (CHN) who collected silver with 128.05 and Ilia Burov (OAR) taking bronze with 122.17.

An epic finish in the Men's Biathlon 15km Mass Start saw Martin Fourcade (FRA) claim gold after a photo finish with Simon Schempp (GER) who took the silver, Fourcade thought he had missed out on the title but the photo showed he won by mere millimetres to win his fourth gold while Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) collected bronze.

An upset for the hosts as Japan's Nao Kodaira won gold in the Women's 500m Speed Skating with Lee Sang-hwa (KOR) taking silver and Karolina Erbanova (CZE) claiming bronze. 

Day Ten

Success in the Ice Dance for GB as Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland safely advanced to the final day of the competition with a score of 68.36 placing them in tenth. Out on the snow, Rowan Cheshire qualified for the final of the Women's Ski Halfpipe while compatriot Molly Summerhayes missed out. 

Aimee Fuller missed out on reaching the final of the Women's Snowboard Big Air after falling on both runs while in the Curling, the women claimed a last-gasp 8-7 win over Switzerland and the men winning 7-6 over Denmark.

The two-man bobsled pair of Brad Hall and Joel Fearon ended in 12th after falling further behind the pack in the final two runs with the gold shared between the Canadian duo Justin Kripps/Alexander Kopacz and German pair Francesco Friedrich/Thorsten Margis who posted the exact same time of 3:16.86 with Latvia takin bronze.

Double success for Norway with a gold and Olympic record for Havard Lorentzen in the Men's 500m Speed Skating, Cha Min-kyu (KOR) taking silver and Gao Tingyu (CHN) claiming bronze and gold in the Men's Team Ski Jumping as the quartet of Daniel Andre Tande, Andreas Stjernen, Johann Andre Forfang and Robert Johansson claiming the title ahead of Germany's Karl Geiger, Stephan Leyhe, Richard Freitag and Andreas Wellinger who took silver and the Polish foursome of Maciej Kot, Stefan Hula, Dawid Kubacki and Kamil Stoch who collected bronze.

Pyeongchang 2018 Day Seven

Day seven saw GB success in the early hours as Dom Parsons took the bronze in the Men's Skeleton with Korea's Yun Sungbin storming to gold with a track record and Nikita Tregubov (OAR) earning the silver. GB's Jerry Rice benefited from the mistakes of others to finish 10th thereby improving on his 12th spot after the first two runs. The medal for Dom Parsons saw him become the first British man to medal in Skeleton since 1948.

In the Women's Skeleton, GB's Lizzy Yarnold sits third after two runs with compatriot Laura Deas in fourth while in the Men's Curling, GB suffered an 8-6 defeat to Sweden.

Gold for Austria's Matthias Mayer in the Men's Super-G as Beat Feuz (SWI) collected the silver and Norway's Kjetil Jansrud earning the bronze. The Women's Snowboard Cross final saw Michaela Moioli (ITA) winning gold ahead of Juila Pereira de Sousa (FRA) who collected the silver while defending champion Eva Samkova (CZE).

Success for Sweden in the Women's Slalom with Frida Hansdotter claiming the gold, Wendy Holdener (SWI) collected silver with Katharina Gallhuber (AUT) claiming bronze. In the Men's 15km Cross-country Skiing Free, Dario Cologna (SWI) won gold ahead of Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) with Denis Spitsov (OAR) claiming the bronze.

The Netherlands continued their domination in the Speed Skating with Esmee Visser winning the Women's 5000m, Martina Sablikova (CZE) took the silver ahead of Natalia Voronina (OAR) who claimed the bronze. Over in the Women's Aerials,there was success for Belarus with Hanna Huskova winning gold with the Chinese duo of Xin Zhang and Fanyu Kong claiming silver and bronze.

Pyeongchang 2018 Day Six

Day Six saw mixed success for GB with the curlers both securing wins, Eve Muirhead's rink winning 8-7 against China after an extra end having lost earlier in the day with a 7-4 defeat to the USA. The men secured a final stone 6-5 win over Japan while GB interest in the Men's Skeleton saw Dom Parsons sitting fourth and Jerry Rice 12th after the first two runs.

Medal wise, GB still await their first but day six began with Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR) becoming the oldest Olympic alpine skiing champion at 35 with compatriot Kjetil Jansrud taking silver and Beat Feuz (SWI) collecting bronze. The Women's Giant Slalom saw Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) win gold ahead of Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) who took silver and Federica Brignone (ITA).

A perfect shooting record saw a surprise in the Women's 15km Individual Biathlon as Hanna Oberg (SWE) won gold, Anastasiya Kuzmina took silver while Laura Dahlmeier (GER) added to her two golds at the games with bronze. GB's Amanda Lightfoot finishing 73rd out of 87.

Success for Norway on the slopes saw Johannes Thingnes Bo claim gold in the Men's Olympic 20km Individual Biathlon with Jakov Fak (SVN) taking silver and Dominik Landertinger (AUT) collecting bronze while in the Women's Cross-country Skiing 10km Freestyle, Ragnhild Haga took gold ahead of Charlotte Kalla (SWE) who collected silver with the bronze shared between Marit Bjoergen (NOR) and Krista Parmakoski (FIN). 

A new world record in the Pairs Figure Skating as German duo Aljona Savchenko/Bruno Massot broke their own record to claim the gold, the title being Savchenko's first in her fifth games with Sui Wenjing/Han Cong (CHN) earning silver while Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford (CAN) collecting bronze. 

Germany continued to excel in the Luge as they defended their Luge Relay title with Canada claiming silver and Austria collecting bronze. Pierre Vaultier (FRA) defended his Snowboard Cross title ahead of Jarryd Hughes (AUS) who took silver and Regino Hernandez (SPA) who collected bronze. Two games records fell in the Men's 10000m Speed Skating as Ted-Jan Bloeman (CAN) took gold ahead of Jorrit Bergsma (NED) who earned silver and Nicola Tumolero (ITA) who collected bronze.

Pyeongchang 2018 Day Five

Day five saw the GB focus switch to Curling with both the Men's and Women's rinks getting their medal chase underway. 

The men got off to a great start with a 6-5 overtime win over Switzerland before slipping to defeat with a 6-4 loss to Canada. They trailed 4-1 early on and pulled the gap back to 5-4 before losing in the final end. A superb start for the women's team of Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Lauren Gray as they stormed to a 10-3 opening win over Olympic Athletes from Russia. 

The weather on the slopes caused postponements with the Women's Biathlon and Women's Slalom moved to days six and seven. Four events on day five saw medals decided with the first being the exciting Men's Halfpipe with Shaun White (USA) winning gold and becoming the first snowboarder to win three Olympic titles. Silver went to Ayumu Hirano (JPN) while Scotty James (AUS) claimed bronze.

A successful title defence in the Men's Nordic Combined as Eric Frenzel (GER) took gold ahead of Akito Watabe (JPN) who claimed silver and Lukas Klapfe (AUT) who collected bronze. The Dutch continued their dominance in speed skating as Jorien Ter Mors won gold in Olympic record time in the Women's 1000m. Japan claimed a 2-3 with Nao Kodaira claiming silver and Miho Takagi collecting bronze.

Another title defence for Germany saw Tobias' Wendl and Arlt claim gold in the Luge Doubles, Austrian duo Peter Penz and Georg Fischler took bronze while Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken claimed bronze.

Pyeongchang 2018 Day Four

Day four opened with the Women's Halfpipe where a superb run from Chloe Kim (USA) saw her take gold as Liu Jiayu (CHN) claimed silver and Arielle Gold (USA) collected bronze in an exciting final.

GB medal hopes suffered a blow as after cruising through the quarter finals and semi finals, Elise Christie crashed out in the final of the Women's 500m Speed Skating. Gold went to Italy's Arianna Fontana, silver to Yara Van Kerkhof (NED) and Kim Boutin (CAN) collected the bronze. 

In the Women's Luge, a German 1-2 with Natalie Geisenberger claiming gold ahead of compatriot Dajana Eitberger, Canadian Alex Gough collected bronze. After Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnickii (OAR) claimed bronze with an 8-4win over Norway. Canadian pair Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris won gold in the Mixed Doubles Curling final with a comfortable 10-3 win over Jenny Perret and Martin Rios of Switerland who took silver.

Over in the Men's Sprint Classic, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo took gold with Federico Pellegrino (ITA) claiming silver and Alexander Bolshunov (OAR) collecting bronze while in the Women's Sprint Classic, Stina Nilsson (SWE) won the title with Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR) claiming silver and Yulia Belorukova (OAR) collecting bronze. 

A Netherlands 1-2 in the Men's 1500m Speed Skating as Kjeld Nuis won gold and Patrick Roest took silver Korea's Kim Min Seok claiming bronze while in the Men's Alpine Combined Slalom, gold for Marcel Hirscher (AUT) with French duo Alexis Pinturault and Victor Muffat-Jeandet collecting silver and bronze.

Pyeongchang 2018 Day Three

Day three at the games saw GB's wait for their first medal continue as Aimee Fuller finished 17th in the Women's Slopestyle final which was dubbed as 'too dangerous'by a number of competitors. Defending champion Jamie Anderson (USA) retained her title, silver went to Laurie Blouin (CAN) while Enni Rukajarvi (FIN) collected bronze.

Canada claimed gold in rapid time in the Team Figure Skating as the claimed the title with an discipline to spare ahead of Olympic Athletes from Russia who claimed silver with bronze going to the United States of America. Germany's Laura Dahlmeier became a double Olympic champion as she won the Women's 10km Pursuit,  the first woman to win the sprint-pursuit double. Silver went to Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK) while Anais Bescond (FRA) took bronze.

Another success for Canada as Mikael Kingsbury won gold in the Men's Moguls, Matt Graham (AUS) claiming silver and Japan's Daichi Hara collecting bronze. After missing out on a medal in day two's sprint, Martin Fourcade (FRA) successfully defended his title in the Men's Biathlon 12.5km Pursuit, Sebastian Samuelsson (SWE) taking silver and Benedikt Doll (GER) claiming bronze.

An historic moment in Women's Speed Skating as Ireen Wust (NED) became the most successful athlete in Olympic speed skating as she won gold in the 1500m, Japan's Miho Takagi taking silver while Marrit Leenstra claimed bronze.

Completing the medal events for the day was the Women's Normal Hill Individual Ski Jumping as Maren Lundby (NOR) won gold ahead of Katharina Althaus (GER) who took silver and Sara Takanashi (JPN) who claimed bronze.

Pyeongchang 2018 Days One and Two

After the superb opening ceremony on Friday, the action began with Day One and a bad start on the GB front.

The trio of Billy Morgan, Rowan Coultas and Jamie Nicholls all missed out on reaching the Men's Slopestyle final. The first gold of the games came in the Women's 7.5km+7.5km Skiathon as Sweden's Charlotte Kalla claimed the title with silver going to Marit Bjoergen (NOR) making her the most decorated female in Winter Olympic history and bronze was taken by Krista Parmakoski (FIN).

Good news for GB saw Elise Christie storm into the quarter finals of the Women's 500m Short Track Speed Skating but fellow Brits Kat Thomson and Charlotte Gilmartin failed to reach the next stage. The hosts South Korea claimed their first gold as Lim Hyo-jun won the Men's 1500m Short Track title with Sjinkie Knegt (NED) collecting silver and Semen Elistratov taking the bronze.

A 1-2-3 for the Netherlands in the Women's 3000m Speed Skating, gold for Carlijn Achtereekte, Ireen Wust claiming silver and Antoinette de Jong taking bronze. Gold for Laura Dahlmeier in the Women's Biathlon 7.5km sprint with silver for Marte Olsbu (NOR) and Veronika Vitkova (CZE) collecting bronze. Germany claimed another gold as Andreas Wellinger won the Men's normal hill ski jump with silver and bronze going to the Norwegian duo of Johann Andre Forfang and Robert Johansson.

Day Two

Starting on the GB front, Andrew Musgrave recorded the best British performance in an Olympic Cross Country event with a seventh place finish as Simen Hegstad Kruger led a Norwegian 1-2-3 ahead of Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Hans Christer Holund in the Men's 15km+15km Skiathon.

The first gold of the games for the USA saw 17-year-old snowboarder Red Gerard claim the title in Men's Slopestyle as Canadian duo Max Parrot and Mark McMorris collected silver and bronze. A hat-trick title for Sven Kramer (NED) in the Men's 5000m with silver going to Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN) while Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) took bronze.

In the Men's Luge, David Gleirscher (AUT) won a first gold in 50 years for Austria with defending champion Felix Loch (GER) missing out on a medal as Chris Mazdzer (USA) took silver and Johannes Ludwig (GER) collecting bronze. A first ever gold for France in the Women's Moguls with teenager Perrine Laffont scoring 78.65 to take the title with defending champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN) taking silver with a score of 78.56 and the 77.40 by Yulia Galysheva (KAZ) enough to claim bronze.

Another success in the snow for Germany as Arnd Peiffer won the Men's 10km Biathlon sprint with Michal Krcmar (CZE) collecting silver and Dominik Windisch (ITA) while favourites for medals Johnannes Thingnes Bo (NOR) and Martin Fourcade (FRA) missed out after three failed shots in the opening shoot.

Pyeongchang 2018 Opening Ceremony

A superb opening ceremony for the 23rd Winter Olympics saw a great show of unity between hosts South Korea and their neighbours to the North.

A montage featuring posters of previous games from the likes of Lillehammer '94, Nagano '98, Salt Lake City '02, Vancouver '10 and the most recent Sochi '14 opened the ceremony. The colours of the Olympic Rings were symbolised in Fire, Water, Wood, Metal and Earth with a running theme of five children travelling through time with the opening feature including an array of colour and dancing culminating in a constellation of stars.

The parade of Athletes began with the tradition of Greece entering first with a great parade of the countries including Lizzy Yarnold carrying the flag for GB, the Russian athletes represented under the Olympic flag and Tongan flagbearer, cross-country skier Pita Taufatofua, entering the arena without wearing a top, despite sub-zero temperatures.

The athletes parade ended in style with the unified team of Korea as North and South combined with another highlight seeing an historic handshake between Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korea leader Kim Jong-un and Korea's president Moon Jae-in.

After the parade, an awesome feature saw snowboarders and skiers alight fireworks which resulted in the formation of the Olympic Rings by a total of 1,218 drones which set  Guinness World Record for drones used in a performance. The centerpiece of the ceremony was the lighting of the Olympic flame which saw the final torchbearer Yuna Kim, 2010 Ice Skating gold medallist alight the fame as 30 rings ascended towards a stunning white crescent cauldron.