[ritchiebaby]

With only 10 days to go until the start of the Winter Olympics, the rest of the GB Team are as follows:-

Alpine skiing - Charlie Guest, Dave Ryding, Laurie Taylor, Alex Tilley.

Cross-country skiing - Andrew Musgrave, Callum Smith, Annika Taylor, Andrew Young.

Freestyle skiing - Izzy Atkin, Murray Buchan, Rowan Cheshire, Alexander Glavatsky-Yeadon, Tyler Harding, Emily Sarsfield, Peter Speight, Katie Summerhayes, Molly Summerhayes, Lloyd Wallace, James Woods.

Snowboarding - Rowan Coultas, Aimee Fuller, Zoe Gillings-Brier, Billy Morgan, Jamie Nicholls, Katie Ormerod.

Skeleton - Lizzy Yarnold, Laura Deas, Dom Parsons, Jerry Rice.

Bobsleigh - Mica McNeill, Mica Moore, Lamin Deen, Brad Hall, Greg Cackett, Joel Fearon, Nick Gleeson, Andrew Matthews, Toby Olubi, Ben Simons.

Figure skating - Penny Coomes, Nick Buckland.

Short track speed skating - Elise Christie, Charlotte Gilmartin, Kathryn Thomson, Joshua Cheetham, Farrell Treacy.

Luge - Adam Rosen, Rupert Staudinger.

Biathlon - Amanda Lightfoot.

[ritchiebaby]

Anyone interested in watching any of the Olympic events might find the following information useful.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/42735569

As usual the first competitions start before the Opening Ceremony, with the Mixed Doubles Curling and the Men's Ski Jumping taking place on Thursday 8 February.

If you can fight your way through all the guff about a warm affection and a harmonised world, there is a wealth of useful information on this official website.
https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/about-the-games

My next post will be full of pretty pictures of the venues.

[ritchiebaby]

Soohorang, the Snow Tiger, in classic style preparing for the curling tournament at the Gangneung Curling Centre (below).



  
The indomitable Soohorang practising for the Snowboard events at the Phoenix Snow Park (below). The Big Air events will be held at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre.


You'll realise that Soohorang gets everywhere, even at the Gangneung Ice Arena venue for the skating events (below) and the Alpensia Sliding Centre for the tea-tray and cigar-tube competitions(even further below).

[ritchiebaby]

This is what it's all about.



"The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic medals celebrate the hard work and dedication by the athletes and participants for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games. The medals were inspired by Hangeul (Korean alphabet), Hanbok (Korean traditional clothing), and Hanok (Korean traditional houses), which are unique cultural assets of Korea."

And there's more - a commemorative coin for you at a price of just under £15 for the cheapest brass coin (below) up to just over £3,300 for the full set of 11 coins in gold, silver and brass.

[ritchiebaby]

The Winter Olympics start tomorrow with a few potential problems - not enough snow, windchill of at least -25C predicted and norovirus hitting security staff. Spectators at the Opening Ceremony are to be issued with heating pads, a blanket, a warm seat cushion and a raincoat, while 18 heat shelters, 40 large heaters and windshields have been put up.

As well as the usual suspects form North America, Europe and Asia, there are 6 new Federations in these Games, including Ecuador in the Men's Cross Country Skiing - Klaus Jungbluth Rodriguez (the Tarmac Skier), Eritrea in the Men's Slalom Skiing and Nigeria in the Women's Bobsleigh. Also competing is Madagascar's sole competitor, Mialitiana Clerc (below), in Women's Slalom Skiing. None of these countries has been regarded as likely Winter Events competitors before, but the world is a small place nowadays and the net is widening.


Due to family and curling commitments over the next 5 days, my viewing and reporting time will be restricted, so if anyone wants to post anything about the Games, please feel at liberty to do so.

[Lord Snooty]

I noticed on Eurosport this morning that the Curling round robin stage has already started.

[Lord Snooty]

Breaking news: British medal hope Katie Ormerod is out. She's injured her heel, a day after she fractured her wrist and so she's out.

[Lord Snooty]

Just watching Clare Balding in the Winter Olympics studio and thinking "that Olympic Stadium looks a lot like Old Trafford" then realised it is Old Trafford.  

[St Charles Owl]

Watched only a bit of it so far, some of the ice skating and the opening ceremony. Will try to post as I see more.

[Lord Snooty]

A plucky 7th from Andrew Musgrave in the cross country skiing. A sport in which GB's best ever finish before was 29th.