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A22 sports
Friday 22 december 2017

The cold returns for Winter Games in mountainous Pyeongchang

By FOSTER KLUG Vancouver and Sochi, no built-in heating systems
Associated Press where ski jumpers were for the seats and the cor-
PYEONGCHANG, South Ko- landing in puddles, got ridors, and it’s too late to
rea (AP) — The cold is back complaints for being too build a roof and too expen-
for the Winter Games. warm, as might Beijing in sive to install central heat,
After two straight balmy 2022, but the weather in Py- officials say. Many of the
Olympics where some eongchang will likely dazzle concertgoers last month
might have wondered if it spectators, and confound where six were treated for
was even winter, let alone organizers and athletes, in hypothermia reportedly
the world’s pre-eminent its bitterness. Pyeongchang flocked to the arena’s toi-
freeze-dependent sporting sits nearly half a mile above lets for a rare bit of respite
event, athletes and visitors sea level in the northeast- from the cold. Organizers
alike will finally experience ern corner of South Korea, plan to provide each spec-
a serious chill in their bones not too far from the bor- tator at the Olympics cer-
during the games in moun- der with the North. It is one emonies with a raincoat,
tainous Pyeongchang. of the coldest parts of the a small blanket and heat-
How cold is it? country — wind chill in Feb- In this Dec. 12, 2017, photo, a thermometer shows the current ing pads — one to sit on,
So cold that tears spring to ruary is often in single digits outdoor temperature reaching minus 17 degrees Celsius (1.4 one for the hands and a
the eyes. So cold the ink in (Fahrenheit) — and notori- degrees Fahrenheit) in the morning at Yongpyong Resort in pair for the feet. They also
Pyeongchang, South Korea.
a pen grows sluggish and ous for a powerful, biting Associated Press plan to install polycarbon-
fades as it scribbles over a wind that gathers force as The weather will be on dis- nerable and exposed — all ate walls above the high-
page. So cold that South it barrels down out of Si- play, and maybe a ma- those thousands of orange est seats across the two
Korean men sometimes beria and the Manchurian jor nuisance, at the Py- and pink seats laid bare northwest sides of the sta-
flash back to being post- Plain and then across the eongchang Olympic Sta- below the wide dome of dium to block the strongest
ed for hours on the frozen jagged granite peaks of dium in Hoenggye village. sky — but also slightly magi- winds. About 40 portable
frontline during manda- North Korea. It can be hard The much-criticized 35,000- cal as the sun glitters off mil- gas heaters will be placed
tory military service. So cold to get people here to talk seat open-air pentagon- lions of tiny ice flakes blow- in aisles between the rows
at least six people were about, or even acknowl- shaped arena, which cost ing across the plain. of plastic seats, and lots
treated for hypothermia edge, the cold. It is simply 118.4 billion won ($107 mil- The wind is brutal, and it of hot coffee and tea, fish
last month after a pop con- a fact of life, and stoicism lion), will be used only four pounds the entire area, in- sticks and heated buns will
cert at the open-air Olym- is often the rule when con- times — during the opening cluding the stadium and be on sale. Still, by the time
pic Stadium. “We all hope fronted with outsiders’ and closing ceremonies of the rooftop, where the gusts the opening ceremony
it will be better in February, weather-related questions. the Olympics and Paralym- rattling through the big AC starts at around 8 p.m., the
but if it’s like it is now, there “The only thing foreigners pics — and then torn down. units sound like a doomed wind chill at the stadium
will be big trouble. It’s just can do is the same thing On a recent blustery day, bomber plummeting out of could be minus 14 degrees
too cold for outsiders,” says locals do: bundle up,” Nam from the top of a nearby the sky in an old war movie. Celsius (about 7 F). That is
Choi Jong-sik, 64, smirking Sun-woo, 60, a fishmonger 17-story building, the white Despite the cold, organizers much colder than the wind
in his short-sleeve shirt as in Pyeongchang, says. “Not angular stadium looks a have done little to protect chill at the ceremonies for
a visiting reporter removes many outsiders understand little like a giant discarded stadium visitors. Spectators the Vancouver and Sochi
layer after layer of thick how cold it gets here. It’s Lego piece. It rises isolated will have to sit exposed for Games, which were 5 de-
outerwear for an interview not like where they’re from. on a wide, flat plain, mus- as long as five hours in the grees and 4 degrees C,
at Choi’s Pyeongchang This kind of cold is com- cular mountains cascading elements during the night- respectively, according to
restaurant. pletely different.” down behind it. It looks vul- time ceremonies. There are South Korean officials.q

Shiffirin any event, actually. Even in
downhill,” she said. “But it
is very, very difficult to stay
strong in every event. The
Continued from Page 18 had more if not for serious better I get with speed, the
knee injuries.
“I’m finding something She is far from finished, ei- more my slalom suffers.”
Intriguingly, she could race
new, some more speed,” ther. The 33-year-old Amer-
Shiffrin told The Associated ican came back in style Vonn in downhill at the Py-
eongchang Olympics in
Press in a recent interview. with a super-G win at Val
“My positioning, my skiing, d’Isere last Saturday — her February.
Injury-hit Vonn missed the
my tactics, everything’s first win on the World Cup
coming together. I’m cer- circuit since January. 2014 Games and is intense-
ly motivated to reclaim the
tainly not (just) a slalom But considering Shiffrin is so
skier anymore, I consider much younger, and has an downhill title she won at the
2010 Games.
myself an all-event skier.” expanding repertoire, she is
Her two wins at the French well positioned to become United States’ Mikaela Shiffrin competes during an alpine ski, Facing Vonn in downhill
would be a treat for U.S.
Alpine resort of Courchevel a record-breaker. The num- women’s World Cup parallel slalom in Courchevel, France,
this week — in GS and the ber of wins Shiffrin could Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017. Associated Press fans — and somewhat like
Shiffrin agreeing to fight
inaugural parallel slalom — get — if she stays injury-free
took her to 35 World Cup — is potentially staggering. 78 or something. I could first goal.” Vonn in her own backyard.
It might be too good to
wins. When asked if she can get there,” she told The AP Although supremely confi-
Vonn is the women’s all- beat Vonn’s mark, Shiffrin after Tuesday’s GS win in dent, the slimly-built Shiffrin refuse.“I hadn’t been plan-
Courchevel. “But as soon knows that becoming a ning on doing the downhill.
time record-holder with 78. takes a long and thought-
The undisputed star for so ful pause. as I think about that, my ski- multi-event specialist puts For sure, after Lake Louise
I’m considering it more,”
many years, Vonn also has “If I’m feeling crazy I can ing starts getting really bad. her best discipline at risk.
four overall World Cup titles think, yeah, maybe if I keep It’s fun to dream about “If I ski my best then I know Shiffrin said. “It’s cool that
these things, but it’s not my it’s good enough to win in the tech (slalom and GS)
and doubtless would have going this way I could get