Olympic Winter Games kick off with colourful ceremony at Pyeongchang

The 23rd Olympic Winter Games officially kicked off with a colourful ceremony at Pyeongchang in South Korea yesterday.

The festivities launched what organizers say is the largest Winter Olympics yet, with 92 countries participating. There will be 102 medals up for grabs in Pyeongchang, covering seven sports and 15 disciplines.

Although competition for the 2018 Winter Olympics began Thursday, the much-anticipated opening ceremony started at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium. The ceremony, directed by Song Seung-whan, a South Korean actor and popular theatrical creator, sought to project a vision of unification and peace on the long-divided peninsula. 

A group of traditionally-dressed dancers and drummers formed the shape of the Taegeuk, the traditional pattern that appears on the South



Korean flag. The final artistic segment of the ceremony was entitled as Peace in Motion.

Hosts South Korea also produced a show of unity with neighbours North Korea during the ceremony. Their athletes entered under the same flag during the parade, after months of tension in the Korean peninsula. 

An estimated 35,000 spectators inside the Olympic Stadium were given seat warmers, wind shields, hats and gloves with temperatures as low as -6 degree Celsius during the two-hour-long ceremony.

Russia is banned from the Games, and the forthcoming Paralympics. However, the International Olympic Committee invited 169 Russians who have met the anti-doping criteria to compete as independent athletes and their team will be known as the 'Olympic Athletes from Russia'.