2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics ready to kick off with grand opening ceremony

  • 6 years ago
After hosting a successful Winter Olympics last month, Pyeongchang and the sub-host city of Gangneung are once again fired up to deliver another massive celebration of sport.
The PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games will kick off its ten-day run tonight with a grand opening ceremony.
Our Won Jung-hwan is standing by for us at the Olympic Plaza in Pyeongchang.
Jung-hwan, what's the atmosphere like

Hi Mark, yes, the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games will open in about eight hour's time.
The atmosphere is pretty quiet as the ceremony will not begin until 8PM,... but I'm sure when the sun goes down it will be packed with thousands of people from around the world.
And let's take a look some people who have already gathered around the venue.


"We are just very excited to be here the expectation that we want to be part of something so big especially here in Korea …. We know it's going to be something incredible."


"At the Olympics opening ceremony there were some spectacular drone performances,… and as the opening ceremony is all about special performances, I am looking forward to it."


"From what I saw from the Olympic opening ceremony, it was very spectacular, I mean the theatrics were beautiful and there so much representation of Korean culture which I think was really cool."

And to tell you little more about the Paralympics itself, just like in the Olympic Games last month, it will also be the largest Winter Paralympics ever in terms of participation,… with nearly 600 athletes from 49 countries participating.
Although 13 venues were used during the PyeongChang Olympics,… this time only four venues will stage events in six sports for a record 80 gold medals up for grabs.

Well, we look forward to watching as many of the events as we can,... and we'll be bringing you all the updates here on Arirang TV. Now, Jung-hwan,... the Olympics last month were freezing cold,... it's basically mid-March now so how's the weather there in Pyeongchang,... must be a lot milder?


Mark, as you say, it's March but we have had some heavy snow since yesterday,... and the snow is still continuing to fall down even now,... giving the organizers not much time to clear the snow before the opening ceremony, which will be held at the Olympic Stadium in the evening.

As you know the pentagon-shaped arena, which can hold 35-thousand spectators, doesn't have a roof.
To clear snow from the stage and from the seats,… organizers are using every resource available to accommodate visitors.
Workers and a nearby military unit have been dispatched since this morning to clear any remaining snow.
We are expecting a crowd of fully packed 35-thousand people to watch the fun here tonight.

That's all from me for now,... but I will be back in this evening with more on the opening ceremony.
Back to you, Mark.

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