2018 Winter Olympics Trivia
2018 Winter Olympics Trivia
Feb 19
The 2018 Winter Olympics got underway with the opening ceremony taking place February 9 in PyeongChang, South Korea. The opening ceremony itself set a new world record, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Once the games began, medal counts began adding up for several countries, including the U.S.
Learn some interesting facts and trivia about the PyeongChang Olympics and some of the athletes participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics with Ira Riklis.
Opening Ceremony Record Set
Before most athletes began competing, world records were already being set. Mashable contributor Sasha Lekach reveals pictures of drones that lit up the skies in PyeongChang. While portions of the light show were pre-recorded, the number of drones used in the opening ceremony set a new Guinness World’s Record “For the most unmanned drones flown simultaneously.”
Over 1,200 drones used during the opening ceremony light show broke the former Guinness record of 500 simultaneous drones set by Germany in 2016. The Intel drones have the capability to create four billion color combinations with the LED lighting effects. In addition to opening ceremonies, the record-setting drones were to be used in the medal ceremonies.
New Records Set Early On
Within the first few days of competition, some athletes set new records and not necessarily for speed or time. Most notable was the gold medal won by American snowboarder Red Gerard. Gerard had less than impressive scores in his first two runs after crashing both times, likely affected by high winds that plagued some early events. The third run in the men’s slopestyle snowboarding competition belonged to American Red Gerard.
Gerard went into the third run in 11th place. Expectations were likely that either Max Perot or Mark McMorris, both Canadians, would win the gold for this event. CNN writer Danielle Rossingh sets the stage, indicating that Red “wowed the judges” with his impressive jumps and spectacular descent through the series of rails set in place for the event.
Besting all other competitors with a score of 87.16, he soared from last place to first place. He won the first gold medal for the U.S. in the 2018 Winter Games. The 17-year-old teenager became the youngest American man to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympic Games since 1928, a shocking win for the young Olympian.
First Black American Women Olympic Speed Skaters
Erin Jackson became the first black American woman to make the U.S. Winter Olympics long track speed skating team. The fact that she made the U.S. Olympic women’s long track speed skating team is not the only surprise. She qualified for the team after only four months on the ice training for the event.
The 25-year-old from Ocala, Florida qualified for the team, surprising more than spectators and fans of the event. She seemed surprised herself. Sports Illustrated quotes her saying, “I really wasn’t expecting any of this…”
Maamie Biney became the first African American to qualify for the U.S. Olympics speed skating short track event. Biney, just 17 and originally from Ghana, was sadly eliminated from her hopes of winning gold after a fall in the quarter-finals.
Marai Nagasu Makes History With Triple Axel
CBS News included American figure skater Marai Nagasu in its “U.S. athletes to watch at the 2018 Winter Olympics” and for good reason. A first-time competitor at just 16 in the 2010 Winter Olympics, Nagasu, who vowed to land the triple axel at PyeongChang, did just that, taking the American women’s figure skating team to a bronze medal. The historic triple axel led her to become the first American woman to successfully perform the feat and only the third woman in history to successfully land the triple axel.
She received a standing ovation, with TIME including social media comments, including one individual who asked, “Where were you when Marai Nagasu invented figure skating?”
As events continued, many athletes likely dreamed of a perfect landing, perfect jump or perfect run to take them into 2018 Winter Olympics history.
