The 2018 Winter Olympics | PyeongChang, South Korea
Earlier this year, I crossed something off my bucket list I’ve been wanting to do for as long as I can remember: Attend the Olympics. I’ve always loved watching the Olympics on TV and rooting for team USA. Watching these events back home, there’s always so much comradery around cheering for your country in a crowded restaurant or bar. I often wondered how the energy would be even more contagious seeing the events in person.
So, rewind time to this past February, where I packed my bags and set off for the winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. We stayed in South Korea for four days, three of which were solely spent in PyeongChang, which is about two hours from where we were staying in the capital city of Seoul.
Curling
Curling was my first taste of the winter Olympics. For this event, I really had no expectations. Honestly, I didn’t even know how the sport was played (and I’m not sure I do now), but it sure is funny interesting to watch.
For our two-hour time frame, we saw Denmark vs. Italy, Norway vs. South Korea and USA vs. Sweden. What’s funny about our match is how poorly team USA did. Of all those matches, USA ended first with a loss to Sweden of 10-2. The ironic part is that they went on to win Olympic GOLD, overall!
Men’s Ice Hockey: USA vs Slovakia
Men’s ice hockey is when things really started to get fun, as it seemed the majority of the arena was in support of USA (minus the six-year-old sitting behind me, screaming in my ear).
We were lucky to see a USA victory over Slovakia that day, with the team finishing seventh overall.
Aerial Skiing
Hands down, aerial skiing was the coolest event of the Olympics for me, and admittedly, the one I was least excited about. Just a few minutes before the event started, we were able to secure some pretty great “seats” (our seats were for standing room only) right at the bottom of the hill.
Seeing the incredible height that these athletes reach once launching themselves off the slope took my breath away every time. The most interesting part was how meticulous they are about each movement of their bodies while in the air. Every arm curl, leg, hand and head movement were perfectly timed to ensure they could pull off the trick, and most importantly, the landing.
With each athlete, music was timed for their jump, which made it all the more energizing to watch as a spectator. That night we saw 25 jumps, with team USA winning the preliminary round!
Overall, I’d say we lucked out with each Olympic event. Not only in terms of USA putting on a good show, but also in terms of the atmosphere. It was exciting to be around so many people who loved cheering on their country.