The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics started on February 9 at 8:00 p.m. in South Korea and at 6:00 a.m. ET in the United States with 2,900 athletes from 92 countries gathering to compete for 102 medals in Pyeongchang. In the ceremony we got to see the introduction of every country that participated showing their national flag and wearing elaborate costumes representing their culture.

The Winter Games run from February 9-25. The Paralympics, which is a major multinational sport event involving athletes with a range of structural and physical disabilities, will use many of the same facilities, with 670 athletes competing from March 9-18. The U.S. Olympic team was led into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium by flag-bearer Erin Hamlin. The themes of the ceremony are harmony, convergence, passion and peace.

The ceremony started with a variety of projections and a group of dancers wearing costumes. The pentagon shape of the  Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium also includes a combination of different geometrical shapes such as the circle, square and triangle that represent heaven, earth and mankind. After the ceremony took place the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in entered the stadium followed by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

Bryan Rodriguez, 12, talks about what is the competition he is mostly looking forward to see and why is he passionate about this sport.

“I’m looking forward to see the swimming competition,” Rodriguez said. “I’m a big fan of the swimming sport I think Michael Phelps is still one of the best swimmers I’ve ever known.”

Alondra Fragoso, 11, talks about her experience watching the olympics since I was little and how seeing those athletes inspired her to practice in order to become a better athlete.

“I really liked the ice skating competition because I used to be on that sport and I could relate to the athletes,” Fragoso said. “I will think that if I practice hard enough one day I would be able to be in the Olympics.”

The President of the United for Culture Club Samantha Arellano,11, gives us her opinion about how the Olympic games help foreign countries become more united.

“I think that the Olympics are an opportunity for people of different cultures and ethnic groups to gather in friendly competition for the gold,” Arellano said. “I think that this event helps the foreign countries unite through friendly competition on multiple events.”

During the next few weeks several competitions will be taken place and there will be more highlights on the sports played by the selected athletes. In order to stay updated on the highlights of every day and get extra information about the competitions, the athletes and the events taking place during the olympics, go to the link below and visit the official website of the Olympic Games.

Official Website: https://www.olympic.org/