Pyeongchang Olympics Opening Ceremony Time 2018: Event Guide, Live-Stream Info
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics takes place on Friday at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in South Korea.
Even though the first events take place on Thursday, the event marks the official opening of the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and will feature the parade of nations and the lighting of the Olympic flame.
Here are the full details of the event and how you can watch all the action unfold.
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Date: Friday, February 9
Time: 11 a.m. GMT/6 a.m. ET
Live Stream: Eurosport (UK), NBCOlympics.com (U.S.), fuboTV (U.S.)
Event Guide
Friday's opening ceremony already promises to be a special event after it was announced that North and South Korea would march together under a unification flag, per the Olympic Channel:
The two nations will also unite and come together to form a single women's ice hockey team, a first in Olympic history, per IOC Media:
North Korea also plan on sending a large cheerleading group to the Games, per CBS Evening News:
Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, is expected to attend the opening ceremony, according to Benjamin Haas at the Guardian.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the ceremony itself follows a strict protocol and must include the following: entry by the head of state, the playing of the national anthem, the participants' parade, the symbolic release of pigeons, the head of state declaring the Games open, raising the Olympic flag and playing the anthem, taking of the Olympic oath by athletes, officials and coaches, the Olympic flame and torch relay and the artistic programme.
The Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium holds up to 35,000 spectators, but there have been concerns about the temperatures, with sub-zero conditions expected, per Katie Falkingham at BBC Sport.
Per the Yonhap News Agency, organisers have installed wind shields in a bid to keep both athletes and onlookers warm. Portable heaters, blankets and heat pads will also be available throughout the stadium.
The PyeongChang 2018 Twitter account has shown the conditions in the lead-up to the event:
The event will certainly be a far cry from the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics, although Pita Taufatofua, the man who carried the Tonga flag in Brazil, will be back.
Taufatofua competed in taekwondo in Brazil but has become the first Tongan to quality for the Winter Olympics, per ESPN:
Great Britain have confirmed that Olympic skeleton champion Lizzy Yarnold will be their flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, while Olympic bronze medallist Erin Hamlin will carry the flag for the U.S. team:
The ceremony will also see the Olympic flame being lit, with the torch having made its way from Greece all the way to Pyeongchang.
The PyeongChang 2018 Twitter account showed the torch on its way to the stadium:
The ceremony is a special celebration, an event that brings athletes and spectators together to celebrate the unique spirit that defines the Olympic Games. It's also a chance for South Korea to shine, under a global spotlight, and present an enticing spectacle that will whet the appetite for the events to follow.
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