2018 Winter Olympics thread

[DRCha]

Some interesting figures attended the opening ceremony. Mike Pence, Shinzō Abe, and North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-jong attended.

And Ivanka Trump will attend the closing ceremony.

[fairplay]

Korea cheats again:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/photo-f...062545852.html

[Paradigm]

I'm aware of the issues in some of the cities outside of South Korea. I don't know how this Winter Olympics will turn out to be for the Koreans. The Koreans don't have negative feelings towards hosting sporting events because the past ones that their country hosted were beneficial overall. All of the 1988 Seoul Olympic stadiums are being used to the present days. After the World Cup stadium was built in Seoul, the Olympic soccer stadium is now used for concerts like these ones:

I myself went to some of the concerts that were held here. And I learned to scuba dive in the deep pool of one of the stadiums. Before the World Cup stadium was built, I went to the Olympic soccer stadium several times to watch the games.

Another positive is that the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics significantly improved the image of South Korea. South Korea before the Olympics was either unknown or the only thing known about Korea was the Korean War. The 1988 Olympics were kind of like branding for South Korea. The 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics were held when South Korea's economy boomed, and it continued to grow after the Olympics.

And like you said, Korea's entrepreneurial culture played a big part. Also, the Korean conglomerates did a lot of the funding for the past sporting events in South Korea. They probably did for this Winter Olympics, too. The current government is actually left-leaning, though. I'm not sure how this will play out for South Korea in the near future, but I feel pessimistic about it. So far, this government has been hostile to the conglomerates. Many left-leaning people think that this is good for preventing corruption. From what I witnessed in South Korea's development and economic growth from the 1980s to the present day, I for one know how important the conglomerates are to the Korean economy. Left-leaning would be good if a government knows how to make it work. I'm worried about South Korea's current president. So far, he has shown to be naïve and blundered into problems economically and diplomatically.

I heard the 2018 games cost South Korea $13 billion, which was $4 billion over budget. This is money spent wisely and there will be benefits for the country in the future, both tangible and intangible. Even in countries without proper management and plenty of dysfunction such as Greece and Brazil, hosting Olympics has lifted the national image for decades to come. Here are some nice pics from the closing ceremony: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorc...mony-in-photos

[Ata]

Korea cheats again:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/photo-f...062545852.html

they really adapted to american culture

[Paradigm]

Any attempts to start an Ice Hockey league in Iran? I think it'd be great.

[PSGman#19]

Any attempts to start an Ice Hockey league in Iran? I think it'd be great.

Some years ago, Iran tried to fund a national team with iranian expats in Europe/USA. Asian confederation or IHF banned them because the players weren't born/spent the last years in Iran.

Iran don't have certified enough ice rings to organize a league. Maybe there is 2 or 3 at best.

[Paradigm]

Hire Russians to build a league for Iran. Maybe just for a few cities.