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.

Rio 2016 Becomes Pyeongchang 2018

After the hiatus between Olympic/Paralympic games after the huge success of Rio 2016. A new name for the blog comes as the 23rd Winter Olympic games begins - Pyeongchang 2018.

Rio saw a huge focus on the exploits of GB in both games whereas when it comes to the Winter games, GB has a far smaller team.

So alike the Sochi 2014 coverage, the focus is on the games overall with GB success highlighted when possible. The opening ceremony begins the coverage with a short post following this one. Blogging across other portals has suffered in recent years but this one is always consistent, hopefully it will be this time around.

On the GB front, hopes are on at least one if not all three potential golds for Short Track Speed Skater Elise Christie and Eve Muirhead's Curling team while Skeleton sees Lizzy Yarnold hoping to retain the title she won in Sochi four years ago.