2018 Olympics: Known Dates, Logo, Schedule Info for Pyeongchang Games

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, are set to take place from February 9-25, with the Opening Ceremony kicking things off before the Games themselves begin on February 10.

A preliminary schedule for the Games can be found here, though it does not yet include several events.

Below, we'll take a look at some of the information and key components of the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

Mascots

The mascots for the Games—Soohorang the white tiger (Olympics) and Bandabi the Asian black bear (Paralympic Games)—were unveiled in July.

JUNG YEON-JE/Getty Images

Olympic.org provided some more background on the choice of mascot:

"

In selecting a tiger as mascot, the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee chose an animal closely associated with Korean mythology and culture. The tiger has been a familiar figure in Korean folk tales as a symbol of trust, strength and protection.

In mythology, the white tiger was viewed as a guardian that helped protect the country and its people. The mascot’s colour also evokes its connection to the snow and ice of winter sports.

"

The name itself derives from the Korean words for protection (Sooho) and tiger (ho-rang-i).

Logo

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/Getty Images

The slogan for the games is "Passion. Connected."

New Events

Four new events—Big Air (snowboarding and freestyle skiing), mass start speedskating, a team skiing event and mixed doubles curling—will be introduced in Pyeongchang.

"The changes reflect the continued evolution of the Winter Olympic program and build on the success of recent editions of the games," the IOC said in a statement when announcing the new events in June 2015, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "They also build on the reforms outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020, which aim to create more flexibility into the Olympic program of the Olympic Games."

Parallel Slalom (snowboarding) for the men and women, meanwhile, was cut from the program for 2018.

Venues

The Alpensia Sport Park will serve as the epicenter of the Games, with all of the venues in use in Pyeongchang within 30 minutes of one another.

Included in Alpensia are the Biathlon Centre, Cross-Country Skiing Centre, Ski Jumping Centre and Sliding Centre. Other venues will include the Bokwang Snow Park; the Gangneung Curling Centre, Hockey Centre, Ice Arena and Oval; the Jeongseon Alpine Centre; the Kwandong Hockey Centre; and the Yongpyong Alpine Centre.

South Korea as Host

The country of South Korea has hosted the Olympics once in its past, the 1988 Seoul Summer Games.

In those Games, Carl Lewis was awarded his second consecutive gold medal in the 100-metre sprint, though only after Canadian Ben Johnson—who won the race with a then-world record time—tested positive for steroids and was disqualified. East German swimmer Kristin Otto dominated, winning six gold medals, while Greg Louganis continued his dynasty in diving. And tennis returned after a 64-year hiatus.

In total, 159 nations participated in the 1988 Games.

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