Olympics 2018: Everything you need to know about the Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea

When does the 2018 Winter Olympics begin?

Competition for the Games begins Feb. 8, and opening ceremonies will be held the next day.                                      Closing ceremonies will take place Feb. 25. 

 

Which city is hosting?

Pyeongchang will host the 23rd Olympic Winter Games. The South Korean city won the right to hold the Games after two previously unsuccessful attempts, this time beating top bids from Annecy, France, and Munich, Germany.Pyeongchang is located some 80 miles east of the country's capital, Seoul, and about 60 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone dividing North Korea and South Korea.Opening and closing ceremonies will occur at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, a temporary venue that can seat 35,000 spectators. All competition venues are located within 30 minutes driving distance from the stadium.The Pyeongchang Olympic village will house up to 3,894 athletes and team officials during the 2018 Winter Games, while a second village in Gangneung will accommodate more than 2,900 personnel.It's the second time the Olympics will be held in South Korea; Seoul was the host city for the Summer Olympics in 1988.The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. 

 

How can you watch?

Those in the United Kingdom can watch the Games via BBC on television and online. Check ABCNews.com for updates.

What are the events?

The 2018 Winter Olympics will feature 102 events in 15 sport disciplines. The sports include bobsleigh, curling, figure skating, luge, snowboard and ski jumping.The International Olympic Committee added some new events for the 2018 Winter Olympics: big air snowboarding, freestyle skiing, mass start speed skating and mixed doubles curling. 

 

Russia is banned from the Games. Why?

The International Olympic Committee announced in December that it was barring Russia's national Olympic committee from the 2018 Winter Olympics as a punishment for its alleged state-sponsored cover-up of doping by its athletes. Some Russian athletes will still be allowed to participate in the Games by competing individually under a neutral Olympic flag.The International Olympic Committee said its report had not found any evidence that the Kremlin was aware of the doping cover-up, but confirmed the findings of previous investigations by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Those investigations uncovered evidence that Russia had concealed doping by hundreds of its athletes for years, aided by the country's intelligence services. The cover-up reached a crescendo during the 2014 Winter Olympics hosted by Russia in Sochi.Russian President Vladimir Putin said his government won't prevent athletes from competing in 2018 Winter Olympics under a neutral flag, but he questioned the premise of the ban if the International Olympic Committee concluded there was no state-sponsored system of doping."Punish those who are to blame," Putin said last month. "And secondly, if there is no state support of doping, then why can't we compete under our national symbols? That, of course, is a big question." 

 

What do the medals look like?

South Korean designer Lee Suk-woo created the medals for the 2018 Games.Inspired by the texture of tree trunks, the medals feature a design of dynamic diagonal lines and three-dimensional characters from Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. The teal and red ribbon from which the medal hangs was made using Gapsa, a traditional South Korean fabric, and is embroidered with Hangeul patterns and other designs.The gold medal weighs the most at 586 grams. A total of 259 sets of medals have been made for the 2018 Winter Olympics, according to the Games official website. 

 

What is the mascot?

A white tiger named Soohorang is the mascot of the this year's Winter Olympics. The white tiger has been long considered a guardian in Korean history and culture, according to the Games website."Sooho," meaning "protection" in Korean, symbolizes the protection offered to the athletes, spectators and other participants of the Games. "Rang" comes from the middle letter of" Ho-rang-i," the Korean word for "tiger," and is also the last letter of "Jeong-seon A-ri-rang," a traditional folk song of Gangwon province, which governs Pyeongchang, according to the Games website.