Hit: North Korea’s cheerleaders
North Korea sent more synchronised cheerleaders than athletes to Pyeongchang, and everywhere they went the women were constantly photographed and cheered. For many South Koreans it was the first time they’d ever met any of their northern neighbours. The DPRK’s male minders made sure, though, that they were kept very separate from the general population.
Miss: Mike Pence
It was a tough Olympics for US vice-president Mike Pence. Before and during the Games he was vocally criticised by LGBT athletes Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon for his attitude to gay rights. Then at the opening ceremony Pence found himself awkwardly sat near to Kim Jong-un’s sister and the North Korean VIP delegation, at a time when at home the USA was piling more diplomatic pressure on the DPRK over its nuclear programme. He did not shake their hands.
Hit: Marit Bjørgen
Norway’s Marit Bjørgen made history as the most decorated ever Winter Olympics athlete. With 15 medals overall, she claimed her seventh and eighth gold medals in cross-country skiing in South Korea. Aged 37, it was her fifth Olympics. The top three Winter Olympians of all time are Norwegian: Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Bjørn Dæhlie have 13 and 12 medals respectively, and the country topped Pyeongchang’s medal table.
Miss: Elizabeth Swaney
Swaney performed the world’s dullest halfpipe ski routine, attempting virtually no tricks, to much ire on social media. She was born and bought up un the US, but her grandparents are from Hungary, allowing her to compete for that country. Her unambitious programme would usually guarantee she’d finish above competitors who had fallen and failed to score, but on this occasion it took her no further than finishing last in qualification. Still, she fulfilled her long ambition to reach the Games, and gets to call herself an Olympian for life.
Hit: Team GB’s Super Saturday
It was an unprecedented feat as Britain’s first Olympic medal-winning skier Izzy Atkin was joined by Lizzy Yarnold’s gold and Laura Deas’s bronze in the skeleton. The first time Team GB had ever won three medals in a day at a Winter Olympics, with Yarnold becoming the first Briton to retain a Winter Olympic title in the process.
But your heart went out to Austria’s Janine Flock. Her final run saw her slip from leading the skeleton, to missing out on the medals altogether. Team GB ended up with their best ever Winter Olympics medal haul.
Miss: Elise Christie
In stark contrast to Team GB’s success on the skeleton track, on the speed skating ice Elise Christie crashed out. Not once. Not twice. But three times. Despite being a triple gold medal winner in 2017’s World Championships, Christie now has a run of six successive crashes or disqualifications at the Olympics.
Hit: South Korea’s ‘garlic girls’
The gold medal eluded them in the end, but the five Kims on South Korea’s women’s curling team became national heroes as they unexpectedly reached the final. Dubbed the “Garlic girls” after their garlic-producing hometown Uiseong, the nation took them to their hearts as they made thrilling progress through the tournament.
Miss: South Korea’s speed-skating ‘bullies’
Less popular with the South Korean public were the women speedskaters. Kim Bo-reum and Park Ji-woo were accused of bullying team-mate Noh Seon-yeong after a disastrous pursuit quarter-final where Noh had been dropped off the back of the team, and was left in tears by the trackside. In a press conference afterwards one of the skaters appeared to laugh about Noh not being able to keep up. More than 500,000 people then signed a petition calling for Kim and Park to be ousted from the team.
Hit: Chloe Kim and her ice cream desire
Chloe Kim became one of the stars of the Games at just 17, becoming the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding medal, taking gold in the women’s snowboard halfpipe. Her approachability was typified by a tweet she sent saying “Could be down for some ice cream right now” – in the middle of competing.
Miss: weather
High winds saw several events included ski-jumping cancelled and pushed back a few days. Not so the women’s snowboarding slopestyle final, which went ahead in conditions described by competitors as “too dangerous”. Only nine of the 52 runs in the final were clean, making the result something of a lottery.
Hit: trousers and knitting
Beyond topping the medal table, Norway also made a sartorial impact, with their curling team once again sporting extravagant trousers. On Valentine’s Day they graced the Pyeongchang ice with a uniform featuring pink love hearts. Meanwhile Finland’s Olympians caught the eye with their knitting hobby – the squad was collectively making a blanket for the Finnish president’s newborn child.
Miss: the Gabriella Papadakis dress
French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis will remember her appearance in Pyeongchang for all the wrong reasons. While dancing with Guillaume Cizeron, her dress became unfastened, revealing rather more than intended. “It was my worst nightmare happening at the Olympics,” she said. The couple retained their composure, however, and eventually secured silver.
