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Let The Olympic Games Begin – Who, What, Where?

ModSquad

On February 9, 2018, the world will turn its eyes to PyeongChang, South Korea where athletes from 92 nations will gather to compete in seven sports across 15 disciplines for 102 medals. Cue the Winter Olympics.

For the first time, viewers in the U.S. will have access to over 4,000 hours of live coverage as the events happen across all time zones. Depending on where you live in the U.S., South Korea is 14 to 19 hours ahead, and for our team in Derry, Northern Ireland, it’s a 9-hour difference; that means very late nights or early mornings for many of us. To get the most out of the Games, we’ve put together a quick Who, What, Where Guide to help prepare you just in time. Minus the coffee.

The Who? What’s the next best thing than being at the Olympics? Filling your social media feeds with behind-the-scene views and experiences from star athletes, themselves. Here are just a few winter games athletes (and their Instagram handles) we can’t take our eyes off:

  • Shaun White, United States (@shaunwhite): two-time Olympic gold medalist snowboarder
  • Lindsey Vonn, United States (@lindseyvonn): holds the most World Cup titles of any woman skier
  • Pita Taufatofua, Tonga (@pita_tofua): the first Tongan to compete in Olympic cross-country skiing
  • Seun Adigun, Nigeria (@seun_msamazing): driving the first bobsled team to ever represent Africa in the Winter Olympics

The What? No more fear of spoilers before events air this year – all of the games will be broadcasted on NBC (and other various NBC Universal platforms such as NBCSN, USA, and The Olympic Channel), the BBC, as well as on YouTube. Viewers can also live-stream their favorite sports online via the nbcolympics.com portal as well as on the NBC Sports app.

The Where? Be sure to check NBC’s nifty calendar or the schedule on the official Olympics website to find out which days will have the broadcasts for which sports. First things first: the Opening Ceremony on Friday, February 9th at 11 a.m. GMT (3 a.m. Pacific Standard Time), followed by men’s & pairs figure skating, and freestyle skiing.

And just in case you find yourself at a watch party, here are a few factual treats to help ignite some conversations:

  • PyeongChang Olympic Stadium can hold 35,000 people
  • The torch relay started on October 24, 2017 in Greece and will end at the start of the Olympics on February 9, 2018
  • There will be 7,500 torch bearers to represent the 75 million population living in Korea
  • The estimated cost of hosting the PyeongChang Olympics is $10 billion
  • The most tickets ever sold for the Winter Games was in Calgary 1988
  • Germany is the most successful nation of all time with 14 total medal wins

If you’re a winter sports fan like a lot of us at ModSquad, it’s safe to say your Netflix account will miss you this February.

Will you be watching the Winter Olympics this year? What are some of your favorite events to watch?